Tables Turned
by OceanSunset2009
Summary: The Southern Water Tribe is on the brink of winning the 100 year war, and a certain heir is eager to leave for battle. What will happen when the hotheaded Fire Nation Prince and the cold, calculated Water Tribe Princess cross paths? Zutara. OOC Katara.
1. Chapter 1 - State of Affairs

**Author's notes:**

****I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender or it's characters. All credit goes to Mike and Bryan.

I didn't use a beta, but send me a PM if you're interested in doing so for me. Will update soon, read and review!

* * *

**Chapter 1 – State of Affairs**

Katara paced the span of her room, allowing herself brief glances at the burnished metal handle, waiting, just waiting for it to spin and a certain important person to enter.

"We wouldn't be in this mess if he would have listened to me…" She practically growled to herself, why did he insist on treating her like an insolent child? The plan was _perfect_. _'Till he let his advisors ruin it…'_ she thought, giving in to her irritation and rage as she imagined the many ways to strangle them for their idiotic opinions.

"My lady, is there anything I can get for you?" Asked one of her maids asked worriedly, the aggravated waterbender had been pacing for a good half an hour straight.

Katara glanced up to see the young woman half-cowering beside her, was she truly that angry on the outside? Sure her mood was of the foulest sort on the inside, but she was skilled in the art of emotional masks. Maybe she was slipping…

_A deep breath to calm, a count to ten for her patience to return, and a sigh of air out to compose her face and control her voice._ This was ridiculous, she was acting like a spoiled, intolerant child. No Princess of the Southern Water Tribe behaved this way, _certainly_ no war General behaved this way. And that was what she wanted to be, right? Her step-father's most trusted War General? She could win the war for him. She smiled within at this thought, but left her face completely serene as she spoke to her servant.

"No Sati, you are free to go for the evening, send in your replacement before you retire."

"Yes my lady…" She whispered, scampering out of the room like a beaten dog.

The second the door clicked closed Katara became a whirlpool of anger and vengeance, pacing again and walking with such force that she would have been surprised the ice floor held underneath her, had she been concerned about anything but this insult. This was her family's war, this was _her_ war. She was not going to allow some rash General's decision destroy her chance at glory, she _refused_.

The door opened with a sigh and she whirled around to meet her step-father, she could see her rage reflected in his deep brown, emotionless pits of eyes. He looked generally unconcerned with her expression and instead folded his arms into his blue and silver fur lined robes, waiting for her to begin.

"You should have _listened _to me!" She shouted, beginning without prompt. "General Oneiwa was wrong, horribly wrong, I said so myself! And look what it has done; our Tribe grieves for an entire fleet and we, _we_ sit here and count ourselves lucky that it did not go _worse_!" She spat the last word, and with a flourish of her hands, the ice walls of her room splintered and webs of hair thin cracks decorated the blue tinged surface.

"Katara, General Oneiwa was only attempting to preserve the lives of the soldiers by altering your plan minimally." He reasoned in a monotone, still devoid of all emotion.

"Well he failed. We lost them all anyways, at least my plan would have ensured victory. Their deaths were only a small price to pay for a triumph so great." She whispered dangerously, poison dripping from her voice.

A long pause emphasized her wicked words, and after some time her step-father's mouth quirked up in a tiny smirk. His eyes showed only the lightest twinge of pride, but it was there, it was real, and after a few more minutes he let out a low chuckle and spoke in a dark tone. "You have made me proud, daughter. You will be great, in due time. Join me tonight in the council room, we are planning a second attack on the Earth Kingdom, and this time, I'm sure the generals will be more open to your ideas." With that he left, gliding out of the room like an icy serpent, and she was delighted. _He was proud._

* * *

"Sokka, what's wrong with you? You're being deployed, that's wonderful! You should be overjoyed."

"Why would I be?" He stared at the ground, feeling lost and afraid. "I'll just be slaughtered like the last fleet…"

"The plan is a fool-proof one." Katara responded matter-of-factly. "I created it, I would know."

She smiled proudly as she thought of the war meeting nearly a week ago; the one she was asked to attend. She had put General Oneiwa and the rest of his incompetent followers in their place. During the meeting she was positive she had crushed their sense of self-worth and made them feel like nothing more than mute old fools. She had then drafted her battle plans and worked for several hours alone in her study, perfecting every movement, every tactic, until it was as cold and calculated as her frozen glares. The next morning she had called together the generals, advisors, and the Chief to propose the plan, leaving absolutely no room for substitutions or alterations. It was accepted by a unanimous vote and she was well on her way to becoming the greatest Water Tribe Chieftess in the history of the Southern Water Tribe.

"Then I trust you sis. Wholeheartedly." Sokka smiled at her, smiled with his heartwarming, brotherly affection smile that made her think of her mother, of her father.

Sokka was two years older, and naturally should have been the next in the line of the royal succession, but a complicated family history‒combined with his unwillingness to rule‒had left her with the birthright. This had pleased her step-father beyond words, she was his favorite of his late wife's children, and in his eyes most competent to lead a nation. Her step-father's name was Altsoba, and he was her mother's second husband. He was, in fact, not born into royalty, he was married into it. Her mother had been the last living heir to the throne when Katara's uncle died in battle and her grandfather died of heartbreak. Kya had taken a husband late in her life, and they ruled for many years. After the death of Katara and Sokka's father, she was forced into marriage to ensure that a man ruled the Tribe, and with that law came Altsoba. He and Kya were both well past their fertile years, and he had no children of his own. First, he showed interest in only Sokka, but when they became old enough to make their own decisions her brother made it clear he had no intention of ruling someday. That was where Katara came in; the waterbender of the family. The strong, proud, passionate, and astonishingly intelligent girl fought her way to favor with Altsoba, and soon all laws were abolished requiring women to marry before assuming the throne. It was Kya's dying wish that Katara rule the nation, and in this Sokka held no resentment towards his all-too capable sister. It was Katara's 11th birthday when she was called to her mother's bedside, and forced to sit through the talk her mother had been planning for months. She was dying, of that much she was certain, and Katara would be left without either of her birth parents. There was weeping as the little girl listened to her mother's instructions on ruling an entire Nation on her own, Sokka had sat beside her and committed the information to memory as well, for fear that someday Katara would forget their mother's words.

Looking at her now, he secretly wondered if she had. While he loved and trusted his sister with his life, oftentimes he witnessed a coldness about her that was not there as a child. She was a war-machine, she had been raised since childhood to think only of the benefit of her nation as a purely physical thing, and she had blocked out attachment and guilt entirely. Sokka was one of the few citizens of the Southern Water Tribe that believed their war was unjustified, it had started a hundred years ago as a feud between nations, the Fire Nation instigated things, and when the war came to Southern ice, things got personal. The Air Nomads had been annihilated and half the Earth Kingdom was smoldering as fire and water clashed. They became world powers, and over the next hundred years fought brutally, turning war into barbarism with their rage and hate. Each Nation thought the other was primitive and revolting, but truly it was all a matter of kingdoms acting like school children. It was said that a small land dispute turned into full out war, and through the histories the nations had done nothing but tattle-tale, backstab, and make fun of the others. _'Just like children… And now I have to go to war for this stupid cause…'_ Sokka thought absently to himself. '_The Fire nation is obsessed with honor, and we are obsessed with glory. How far we have fallen…' _He sighed inwardly, putting on a happy face for Katara.

Gone were the days of joking fun, he realized, as she studied his armor laying on the floor with an envious gaze. She was not permitted to go to battle, her life could not be in danger, she was heir. She was also no longer a child, she was a woman, a warrior woman and a master waterbender. Happiness had left Sokka when their mother died, and very few times was he able to bring back his joking personality. In this world of war and responsibility he felt dead inside.

"You will bring us glory Sokka. You are a skilled warrior." She continued proudly, _had she been talking while he was lost in his thoughts? _He didn't know what else to say, what was there really? It was pointless to say thank you, she would only brush off the comment. He didn't want to bring up the stupidity of the war and the impending battle, she was the future ruler, she made the plan, she would be offended. He didn't want to voice his hatred of fighting people he didn't see the need to fight, she was born to fight and she would think he wasted the privilege if he displayed any uncertainty. So he would keep quiet, he didn't want to anger her or offend her by bringing up something he shouldn't. He knew her better than anyone, and right now she was liable to become as tumultuous and fierce as the raging waves, if provoked.

So, he sat dejectedly in the locker room of the training facilities, staring at the floor, rather than watch his sister throw icicles‒more like ice daggers‒at the frozen wall in front of them. There was a '_chink'_ every time her weapon hit the wall and a '_whiz, clunk'_ when she bended it back to her hand. He did not have to look up to know she hit her target spot-on, she was deadly like that, and he felt a small twinge of sadness knowing that she spent her time plotting wars and mulling over murdering to get what she wanted.

_'Yes…'_ he thought remorsefully, _'she would have a man beheaded to obtain her ultimate prize. She has forgotten mother… She has forgotten _herself.._.'_

* * *

The days passed slowly for Katara; she awaited news of the fleet's arrival in the Earth Kingdom, she dealt with trivial legal matters within the Tribe, she even had some time to herself to be pampered. In the weeks that followed she found it increasingly hard to keep busy, there just wasn't _that_ much going on right now. So she decided to pray, pray to the gods for their wisdom and favor, and when that became boring she would study. Eventually the two activities melded together and she found herself researching both ancient and modern religions. Long hours were spent in the royal library, and she discovered her favorite place was beside the roaring fireplace on the coldest evenings. The Southern winter was brutal and autumn was losing hold, soon the sun would fall below the horizon line and they would all be plunged into 6 months of absolute night. Temperatures would plummet, non-bender's bodies would slow and benders would be hyperactive in the near-constant presence of the moon. It was mid-March and the only sunset of the year was two days away.

Katara would not allow herself to admit it, but in some ways she would miss the sun. Yes, she was eager as a bender to feel the power of the moon again; it had been 6 long months in coming. But while she was rejoicing this, she also mourned the lack of warmth that would greet her as she stepped outside for her morning strolls. The sun was not to her what it was to her step-father, though she would never dare say it aloud…

The next two days passed peacefully, and as the sun made it's yearly descent she thought of her brother. Was he ok? Why was there no news? She prayed silently to Tui that she would watch over him, and to La that the waters were calm and the current pulled them quickly to their destination. As the sun finally sighed below the horizon, and the moon rose cheerily over the snowy world, she made her way to the library. She was anxious to read an ancient Fire Nation myth she had found last night, and with the moon shining she had no desire to slip into bed just yet. She found the book exactly where she had left it, sitting on a low table before the fire. She turned the pages to the story and began reading, an hour later she came across the best part; a description of the sun god Agni. Katara was so engrossed in her reading that she hadn't noticed Altsoba sneaking up and reading over her shoulder.

She jumped when he spoke from directly behind her. "Aren't you too old to be reading fairy tales? I distinctly remember the cut off age being twelve," she wasn't sure if he was teasing or serious.

"It's Fire Nation mythology." She explained, sounding more irritated than she intended.

"Actually, it's Sun Warrior mythology, the civilization before them." He told her, sitting down and propping his elbows on his knees. "Agni is still a major part of their religion, despite the age of the myth. Some people wonder if it's even a myth, or if he's really the spirit of the sun."

"Like Tui and La…" She murmured.

"Why the sudden interest in the Fire Nation?"

"It is always best to know one's enemy. And… I suppose I was just… _curious_…"

He studied her face, locking eyes with her and not backing down. She wondered shamelessly as to how many had met their death staring in to those mute eyes, was the number in the double digits, or rather in the thousands? She had personally delivered 6 people to the wrath of Ko, and that was in only 17 years. She had grown up fast, and grown up strong.

"Do you think, if Agni does exist, that he exists in human form? Like Tui and La?"

"If he does, I will find him, and I will destroy him." Altsoba whispered murderously, tearing his eyes away from her face to stride soundlessly down the hall. Goose bumps covered Katara's arms as she marveled at the hatred and power behind his being, he was deadly, and she had been raised as his. She was the product of his vision, his determination to raise a child to not only rule, but to kill. And she would not fail him.

Three days later, word was received from the fleet in the Earth Kingdom; they had made it, and the fighting was brutal, but they were pushing on. Sokka made mention in his personal letter to Katara that it was made worse by the rain, which turned everything into a mud fight. Waterbenders and Earthbenders had tried using the wet earth to fight, but it was comparable to a pillow fight at a sleepover. Mud just didn't kill anyone.

In the official letter, it mentioned delay on account of the rain but also made it clear that everything was going as planned. Katara sat for an hour with Altsoba, formulating their return message as figurines were pushed over a tabletop map to indicate the fleet and their enemy's location. Everything was going as planned, and Katara couldn't be more ecstatic, no matter how sadistic it was to be happy in battle. She retired early, allowing her mind to slip away from her odd infatuations with religion and myth, and fade away into battle cries, and victories in distant lands. Dreams claimed her, and she smiled in her sleep, looking far too at peace for what was raging in her head.

The smell of blood filled her nose, her ears were drowned in the cries of dying men and snarling victors, her mouth was dry and her lips chapped, but before her eyes was the most beautiful, serene sight she had ever viewed.

'_Push and pull… Yin and Yang… Tui and La…'_ A deep, smooth voice sifted to her, sending creeping chills up her spine and making the sounds of battle fade into the background, no more than a hum in the back of her mind.

The koi circled each other, never ceasing, never yielding to the other. The water rippled, but it wasn't tinged blue like normal water, it glowed gold in the dappled light sifting through cherry blossoms above. The air still smelt of blood, but this time it wasn't excitement she felt for the rage of battle, it was dread. An emotion that made her feel weak, that said that she wasn't sure if she would live to see another day. She caught sight of her reflection in the water and it smiled an insane, bloodthirsty smile. _She wasn't smiling.._. It was acting separately from her, she realized, gasping as it raised a dagger to it's throat and sliced. She felt the pain before the world went black. She awoke gasping and screaming for her brother, but he was not there. _He was at war._

The next morning, a letter came.

* * *

"Katara, what is your opinion on this diversion of your plan?" General Oneiwa questioned, _he was taunting her…_

"We crush them, we drown them, we show _no_ mercy." She wasn't sure if she was growling or snarling, it was all the same in the end anyways. Her seat at Altsoba's right hand was the target of many stares this morning, two days after the letter. She did not shift, she did not waver, she stared him down with a hatred to rival even Agni's.

"And how do you suppose we do that?" taunted the general again, obviously pleased that Katara's mastermind plot was falling away before her eyes.

"I will go _myself_ if I have to!" She spat, enraged that her shot at glory had fallen before her eyes.

"Well, perhaps while you're out, you could find your brother. We all send our regards, Princess. Well, unless he's already dead, then we send our condolences." The general bowed his head in a mockery of her title, her power, her cunning. She wasted no time in spanning the 20 feet between them, slamming him to a pillar, one hand constricting his fat neck.

"Perhaps we should send you, dear _General_." She sneered, watching with satisfaction as he grabbed at her hand, choking. "Or I could just kill you now."

Sokka stared out into the pouring rain; the seal skin tent offered considerable protection, but humidity and dampness still seeped into his bones, chilling him in a way the South never had. Lush greenery surrounded them and he was beginning to adjust to the twenty four hour days. It had been odd at first, but he was starting to like the Earth Kingdom, thinking perhaps he could be happy there, settle down even. _'If there wasn't a war being fought, that is.'_

He hadn't heard from Katara yet, but he didn't blame her, she was probably in endless war meetings attempting to salvage her plan and bring him home safe. He knew she would do what it took to bring at least him home, and he wondered if she would ever extend the same level of dedication to anyone else.

He sighed, staring down at the makeshift cast encasing his left leg. "Well," he muttered, running his fingertips over the bandage on his face, "at least boomerang came back…"

Waves lapped at her feet, cold seeped through her thin silk clothes, she smirked.

_It was agreed. _She was going to war.

_(flashback)_

_The throne room doors were in her way, she needed to be heard, _now._ She threw them open, ignoring the slamming and squeaking as hinges strained and walls acted as bumpers. A guard glanced at her questioningly. _

_"What?" she snapped, throwing him a deadly look._

_"Princess Katara, is something wrong?" Altsoba asked with only a hint of surprise in his cold voice._

_She dropped to her knees, pressing her forehead against the floor in a low bow. She looked up, focusing her glare on his feet. "I want‒no. I _demand _the freedom to go and find my brother, to help him win this battle, to help _you_ win this war. I will not let you down."_

_(end flashback)_

Now, as she stood on the edge of the ice, looking out at the freezing waters, she was finally going. The 'trip' had not been approved by the council, naturally, so she was going in secret with the Chief's permission. She would be their spy, their eyes behind enemy lines, and her own one man rescue team for her brother and the fleet. The Earth Kingdom would be conquered, and the Fire Nation would regret aiding them in this battle…

She pulled her fukumen over her nose, the black cloth doing little to block the stinging tundra air. _'That won't be a problem for long…' _she thought, preparing to call her element to her. Her boots crunched as they took a final step in the snow and settled into a fishing canoe; the vessel itself was small and the wood a worn shade of grayish tan, a seal skin sail whipped around in the heavy winds, Katara sent a silent prayer to La for safe travels. As she pushed the boat off shore, she began propelling with her waterbending, letting her mind wander while muscle memory guided her boat.

She would travel until she reached the Southern Air Temple islands, she would rest briefly near the shore, then proceed to Whale Tale Island. It would take her nearly two weeks from that point to sail the remaining distance to Earth Kingdom territory, then, travel on foot to the Western coast where what remained of the Water Tribe fleet lay hidden.

The Fire Nation was aiding the Earth Kingdom, and Katara's main focus‒per request of her step-father‒was that she gather information regarding the Fire Nation's future advances. This she would do proudly, and efficiently.

_'Earth and water don't mix anyways…' _and it was true. The two yins were Water and Air, the two yangs being Fire and Earth. Water and Fire balanced, Air agitated Fire. Earth and Air balanced, but Earth restricted Water.

Maybe that was why Fire and Water could fight for a hundred years, and neither fell to the other. The Fire Nation had killed off the Air Nomads, and the Water Tribe had all but destroyed the Earth Kingdom.

The wind whipped at her face and the salt spray stung at her eyes, but she pushed on, long hours spent propelling herself forward, determination driving her forward. She never yielded to the ache of sore muscles, or the fatigue that washed over her like the cold waters. She pushed till the sky faded to slate grey, and the air sifted cool and refreshing over the Southern ocean; the 6 month night began to fade and the sun crested over the horizon line. In the distance she could see tall mountains rising from the sea, clouds drifting lazily around the peaks and the sun lingering behind the land. It was early morning, and the sun drained her energy, but she rejoiced nonetheless in this peaceful scene.

'_Spirits, what a beautiful day…' _She stared in awe as the red-orange sun broke free of the largest mountain, the summit glistening with fresh snow. She noticed, at this moment, that the snow was tinted gold from the low sun's rays, and her mind drifted back to her dream of Tui and La. The water was gold there… A sudden feeling of dread replaced her joy of the morning sun, and with it she felt the urge to panic. "Agni, spare me…" she whispered, mentally smacking herself for showing such weakness, Agni would not listen to her. She had killed thousands of his children…

Katara pushed further, not stopping till the sun had risen far overhead and the mountains were no longer distant. She docked her boat at an island about 30 miles from the taller mountainous islands, the hard stone beneath her felt odd, but was solid and welcoming to her weary limbs. She collapsed on the ground, forgetting about bedrolls or pillows, or anything of the sort and simply drifted off to sleep. The Air Nomads had been dead almost a hundred years, and she was on their abandoned Southern islands, no one was here to bother her.

* * *

A storm raged overhead and she was shaken from her deep slumber, plunged into a world of freezing wind, rain, and darkness.

Katara picked herself up from the hard stone ground, fumbling around for the line that tied her boat to the shore. '_It's not here…'_ She panicked, jumping up and squinting her eyes against the sheeting rain. She scanned the area, spotting an object bobbing in the waters about 100 feet out. _There._ She dove; swimming through the vicious sea and tackling waves taller than herself. She neared the boat and reached for the line, the side, _anything._ A stray piece of sail drifted into her hand, she seized it, screaming in frustration as she cast it away. The next object to meet her was the rope and she forced the boat closer. Despite her status as _Master _Katara, she could not fight waves with waves, and waterbending became useless against the furious sea. The more she fought, the more she lost, and with the waves pushing her under, she was losing her supply of oxygen. Blackness edged at the corners of her mind and she thrashed in the blue waters. She was losing the battle.

_'La, why are you doing this to me?'_ she whispered within, feeling her body sinking and her thoughts drift away.

Blazing sun beat down on her bare skin; the heat was incredible and the gritty sand underneath her didn't help much. Her mind was fuzzy, but at least she wasn't dead. Obviously a considerable amount of her clothes were gone, judging by the patches that felt like they were on fire. It was midday‒that much she knew‒though it may have been the first time she had ever experienced the sun directly overhead. _While conscious, at least. _

Katara shifted in the sand, catching a glimpse of her surroundings; she froze. _This was not the Air Temple mountain range. _Tall trees framed a small beach, the air smelled of what she could only assume was pine, and she felt eyes on her. _Everywhere._

She scrambled up immediately, pulling some water to her from the ocean behind her, it swirled around her midsection, adhering like glue to her skin. A pain pierced her temples, making her lightheaded and weak, _the sun must be mocking her_. She blinked a few times, letting her blue eyes adjust to the intense day. '_Well this feels strange…'_ The Southern Water Tribe had certainly never prepared her for a landscape like this…

She felt the eyes retreating, never leaving, but retreating nonetheless. The tense atmosphere eased, and Katara's survival instincts kicked in. Her tongue was feeling dry and her mind sluggish, she needed water. _Soon._ To find water, she needed to find a town or a nearby stream. Ocean water was nearly impossible to purify with waterbending, and the effort was incredibly taxing; in her current condition _absolutely_ impossible.

So she started walking, letting instincts lead as she searched for a village. She followed a well-worn footpath, letting the twists and turns take her through lush pastures of grasses and early wildflowers. Spring was breaking through in this part of the world, and evidence of the seasons shifting could be found everywhere.`

The path widened and started shifting upwards, the incline becoming steep before cresting and revealing a quaint village. People meandered throughout it's streets, children played on the outskirts of town. As she neared, they stopped to stare at Katara warily. It was then that she realized she probably looked homeless and filthy.

A little boy neared her, staring into her eyes and she strode past him. He gasped quietly before backing away; she was a waterbender, that much was clear to anyone with eyes.

_ "Green… Oh how I do so love green…"_ she mumbled sarcastically, passing finally into the main street of the town.

Katara bought her clothes, her water, her provisions, and was finally pointed to the port outside of town where she could find a new ship or perhaps a vessel already traveling in the direction she was headed.

"Who are you?" one shopkeeper had asked her; he was young, and fiery hatred shone in his eyes as he searched her form for clues.

"A foreigner. I'm simply traveling at the moment,"

He glanced over her again. "Well, _foreigners_ are not welcome on Kyoshi island. I suggest you leave soon, stranger."

Katara shrugged, finishing loading up her bag with the essentials she had bought. "So that's where I am, Kyoshi? I don't suppose you know of man to take me to the mainland, hm?"

"Not with those eyes I don't." He replied icily.

"Too bad… He would be well paid…" she said offhandedly, setting off in the direction of the port.

She had spent hours searching for a boat, no captain was brave enough to allow a dark-skinned, blue eyed woman aboard their ship. But finally one came into sight, a beaten, wooden ship with men milling about aimlessly. A scrawny dark haired man was standing in front, yelling at the passerby's.

"Come right up little lady, genuine artifacts for sale!" He screeched at her through gold crowned teeth.

"Actually I'm not interested in artifacts, _pirate_. I'm traveling to the Earth Kingdom mainland, I need a ride."

"Sorry, but we don't take _your kind_." He cackled, _was it a cackle or a deranged screech? Maybe just a really messed up laugh?_

Katara tossed a couple of silver pieces at his shoes, watching as he grinned at her appraisingly.

"We might be able to work out a deal, waterbender." He paused, reevaluating her offer. "Three gold pieces and you have a deal."

"Two, I have my own provisions."

"Deal."

They shook on it, and she boarded the ship.

_Destination: Earth Kingdom. Estimated Arrival: 1.5 weeks. Purpose of Mission: Extraction of Information, Divide and Conquer._


	2. Chapter 2 - Imprudent Bastards

**Author's notes:**

I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender or it's characters. All credit goes to Mike and Bryan.

Things are going to start getting M rated here guys! 'Tis what you get when you read an M rated fic, I will not apologize for my twisted mind! Review please!

**Chapter 2 – Imprudent Bastards**

Life onboard a pirate ship was both fascinating and infuriating. On one hand there was the new way of life that could only come with a pirate's existence; the seafaring, the gambling, the drinking, the looting of ships. And then, there was the annoying part; the tolerating crusty, stinky men with a desire for nothing but stolen goods and young women, many of whom were bordering on insanity.

Said men had wisely left Katara alone when it came to fulfilling their desires, which she accounted to their innate fear of her and her people. From what she had learned, most of them bore Earth Kingdom roots, and the few that refused to speak of it were readily pushed to "enemy" in her mind. It was clear that the majority of the crew bore a deep-running prejudice to her, which she decided to ignore.

The pirates had found that she had quite the gift for fishing, and this little talent did not go unused. Whenever they were in particularly calm waters, she would dive into the cold blue liquid and scout for prey. Using her bending to form an air bubble, she would dive deeper and deeper, until her air ran out. Then came the challenging part; despite waterbender's naturally great lung capacity, it was still hard to stay at such great depths for more than a couple of minutes. When fish were spotted, she would freeze the waters around them, and follow the ice blocks back to the surface, sometimes taking the time to leisurely check the surface around her for waves signaling other vessels. As petty a job as it seemed to be, she secretly enjoyed the silence of the blue around her. And her shipmates were more than overjoyed about the supplementation to their limited diets.

"Why do you do that?" It was her least favorite companion, a wiry man of about twenty five, with a propensity for getting into her business and grinding on her nerves. She filleted a small fish with her knife and began sucking the flesh off the skin raw, being sure to glare ruthlessly over her meal.

"More nutritious, the natural oils don't cook away, easier on a starved stomach." She smiled as the pirate recoiled, crinkling his upper lip in disgust as she ripped the meat off. "Cooking reduces the amount of water in the flesh too," she tossed the bones overboard; maybe a school of tuna sharks would find it and come near, she much preferred their meat over that of the smaller fish.

"You don't look like you've had to survive much."

"Does it matter?" she retorted, sucking the meat away from the other fillet.

"I guess not…" The man replied warily, glancing at her from the corner of his eye in horror as she picked the carcass clean.

That night, she was awoken by the sound of a nearby ship, a horrible metal clang jolted her awake. They had not fired, so they were probably scouting the vessel before taking action. Katara rushed to pull on her outer night robes, cinching the cloth tight around her waist, thank the spirits the garment was dark green, not some loud color that attracted attention.

The deck was pleasantly cool as she stepped outside, and the moon shone overhead, a waning crescent. Movement caught her trained eyes, and she tracked the form of her wiry, annoying companion. He crossed to the side where the ship‒it _must _be Fire Nation, with the flames burning inside and the acrid smell of burning coal‒was stopped. Was that a plank they were lowering across for him? He strode across arogantly, meeting two heavily armored guards.

Katara wished she could follow, but she had to make other arrangements. She ducked from her hiding place; running across the deck and diving into the black waters below, it was churning and the undertow was strong, but she managed to swim to the rear of the Fire Nation ship. Using her bending, she propelled herself up and over the railing, rolling over her shoulder before landing neatly on her feet. She bent the water out of her clothes and hair, bending it back to La before sneaking across the deck. Upon reaching the command tower, she scaled the wall, reaching the very peak and then hooking her boot toes into the ledge so she could hang upside down and watch the proceedings within the tower.

Through the large opening she could see a group of armored soldiers and a man standing at the head of the table, speaking to the group with authority.

"Our informant wishes to speak with you, sir."

"Bring him in." 'My_ Spirits, his voice is beautiful'_

The 'informant' was brought in and Katara grimaced. '_Dishonest, backstabbing creep.'_

"Prince Zuko, it is an honor." He bowed his head slightly, she sneered silently.

"Just give us the information," the 'Prince' replied haughtily.

"There is a waterbender traveling with us, Your Highness." he waited, but when the Prince did not speak he continued on. "She is traveling to the Earth Kingdom mainland, and mentioned vaguely that she desires to sail as far North as we are able before docking."

"Her name?"

"She calls herself Kanna."

There was some shuffling as the Prince paced, she watched the back of his head; he was bald, save an odd patch of long hair pulled into a ponytail, and his alabaster skin shocked her entirely. Sure, there were some pale people on Kyoshi Island, and she had seen servants from other Nations within her house that were paler than her race, but nothing like this man; his skin caught the light and reflected it like ivory, as if it was of the smoothest texture and the finest quality. Though his soldiers were a little more rugged looking, many of them shared this pale complexion.

His ponytail swished as he looked up to his 'informant' who was speaking, _again_. She could barely pay attention as she noticed a red mark on his flawless skin; a shriveled shell of a normal outer ear and marked by an angry looking red scar. She could not see his face, but she had a feeling that the scar did not just mar his ear. The black swish of his ponytail brought her back to her senses and she saw the Prince's hands clench against the table's edge. _A considerable temper._

"There is a Water Tribe fleet in the Northern Earth Kingdom, in that fleet in the Southern Tribe's Prince." he began, and she could feel the 'informant' shrinking under what must have been a burning glare. "Looks like the heir has come to his rescue." His raspy voice forced the words, growling them out rather than speaking. She shivered as heat radiated from the opening, there was no fire, but the temperature in the tower had suddenly become sweltering.

The Prince stormed from the room, or rather seemed to burn his way through it. He was not the 'storm' type. He was fiery, he was hateful, he was angry, but nothing could ever compare that man to water.

She relaxed on top of the tower, letting out a quiet breath. They knew. She was expected now, a simple pirate had ratted out her existence to a Fire Nation ship, and the Prince had figured her out. Complete surprise would be thrown out the window, they would be waiting for her, but they underestimated. She didn't travel much, the world was still unaware of the extent of her power. They probably assumed she was the replacement; the helpless little sister pretending to be a big girl.

But, she could still keep them wondering. If Sokka could hang on for an extra couple of weeks she could take her time in the Earth Kingdom, and keep them guessing when she would show up. She _could_ send a messenger hawk when she reached mainland, but the message might be intercepted, she wouldn't risk that. She could possibly risk sneaking into the encampment to check on him, then leaving until the other soldiers were letting their guard down, but that would be near close to impossible to leave undetected. Her last option was to go now and be under fire until they could fight their way out, but the injured and sickly probably wouldn't survive.

She searched for the ladder bars beside her, fingers making contact with the slippery, salt-sprayed metal. Releasing her leg hold, she readied for the forward momentum to swing her to the ladder. _It never came_. Instead she heard the distinct rip of fabric; her night robes had caught on one of the ornate metal spikes making up the eerie decorum of the ship's watch tower, _what a lovely surprise_. Untangling the mess was a job, with bits of green cloth shredding into nothing more than string. If it was red, she would have compared it to the red strings of fate, but it compared more or less to the stringy boogers Sokka used to spelunk for in his nasal passages. When he was younger, that is.

Around the time Katara was cursing at her robes, a guard happened to be crossing the ship deck to the rear side, to _her_ side. She was too busy flailing to notice the guard, and the guard was too fresh to the world of war to actually be paying attention. They were in the middle of the ocean for gods' sake! What could possibly happen all the way out there?

"You know what," Katara whispered furiously to the hung-up fabric, "fuck you too! Green was never my favorite color anyways!" and with that the robe broke free, casting her away to smash against the ladder with a bang.

The aforementioned guard had picked up bits of the furious whispering, only turning fully when he heard the following crash. The utter shock of seeing a woman hanging on to the tower's emergency ladder caused him to visibly jump, and he was pretty sure she had been shocked as well. What the hell was she doing outside in only a slip anyways? Did they even have women on this ship? Clearly she wouldn't be a female guard, not with those green clothes and dark skin!

Several awkward seconds passed before either moved; Katara was fairly certain he was just as stunned as she was, she could practically see the gears laboring in his mind. He made no move, obviously just a dumbfounded, brainless guard. No worries, she could start moving again. But the moving made something click in his pea-sized brain, so he screamed the first thing that came to:

"_Stowaway!" _ And of course_,_ best to run, in case she was dangerous or something. He would need back up!

The waterbender rolled her eyes, as if his screeching wasn't enough, he was running from her. "Amateur…"

Despite his obvious naiveties on the existence of _spies_, he managed to alert more competent watch men, who had her surrounded before she even made it to the ground. She resorted to quick acrobatic movements, leaping the remaining distance to the ground.

There were a dozen guards already surrounding her, spread evenly and in ready fighting stances, all of them firebenders by the looks of it, and all of them armored. Katara was only a single teenage girl, outmatched, unarmed and scantily clothed. _'But surrounded by water.'_

There was a hesitation as they took in her appearance; did their honor whisper tauntingly in their ears, did it reason with them, did it hold them back? For where was the honor in attacking a young, unarmed girl? But Katara was not concerned with honor, she was concerned with glory. She had no qualms about murdering every single faceless soldier, actually, mask or not she would kill them. Glory demanded drastic measures for those drastic enough to strive for it, if that meant a girl like her, killing a dozen men like them, so be it. Hell, if it meant a girl like her killing the Fire Prince in his sleep, she would. History would forever remember her; glory lived on, she would never die away.

It was with this mindset that she slid into her own stance, calling the great ocean to her in a flurry of salty spray and churning currents. The water formed tentacles, surrounding her in a ring and guarding it's mistress. She watched, and she waited; ever one to adapt by her opponent's victories and mistakes.

They stared her down, eyeing her like hungry polarbear dogs tracking their prey, but they never attacked. Tension rolled off them in hot flashes, making her cheeks burn and her back cold. It seems they were waiting too, no matter how eager.

Angry footsteps indicated a certain _Prince's _arrival, and if that wasn't enough, he had to shove his guards aside for good measure. Katara finally saw his face, which from that distance wasn't much of a view, but there was no hiding the marred side of his face. A malicious-looking burn scar deformed his left eye and the entirety of his ear, it was gruesome, and undeniably intimidating.

To Katara the scar looked out of place, strange in comparison with his exotic face. At least to her he was exotic, with his raven black hair and ivory skin, there was something about his eyes too, though she was too far away to be sure.

"Who are you?" he demanded, breaking the tension with his furious voice.

"Isn't that much obvious, _Prince?_ You get a tip about a _waterbender_ on the ship directly next to yours, and you have no idea who am I?" Katara paused for good measure, smirking at the irritable child of the sun.

"So you are the heir, then?" he grit the words out, clenching his fists. _Were they smoking? _

"Why don't you come closer and find out," _Yes, they were definitely smoking._

Like a twig snapping, the Prince's cool flew out the proverbial window. He struck at the waterbender with a roar of pure rage, eerie embers floating into the midnight sky as a single arc of fire twisted towards her. With it, an intense heat blasting like wind through the ethereal darkness. Behind it, she could see the spire of the watchtower, the inside a red glow against dark metal. The Nation she was raised to hate was here, their _Prince _was here, and she was ready.

She grinned; _game on._

From what she had been taught, firebending was _very_ offensive, and lacked strong defensive. The Prince was probably accustomed to offensive opponents, but what about _defensive _opponents? '_A yin opponent, to his very obvious yang_.' Katara wracked her brain for information regarding the Fire Prince, his military record, mainly. She remembered learning about his father, the Fire Lord Ozai, and his uncle, General Iroh, The Dragon of the West. But, the curriculum was suspiciously void of all things Fire Prince, considering even Princess Azula was mentioned, _in detail._

She would just have to wing it, and be sure to play on his short fuse.

The Prince, meanwhile, fired shot after shot of searing flames, his temper rising as she ducked, parried, leaped, and spun out of the way.

'_Another circus freak…' _ Like his sister's annoying friend, but this one was a waterbender too.

Their game of attack and evade, was eerily quiet, he realized; glancing back to find all twelve of his men frozen where they stood. That little distraction was all Katara needed; landing a gainer, she shifted instantly to a bending stance, calling her element and hurling it over her should, straight at the inattentive Prince.

Her opponent's face was suddenly very cold.

A smirk lit her features, a devious plan already formed in her mind; she just had to wait for the right moment.

The Prince growled, still on the offensive‒naturally‒and spluttering out curses as his wet ponytail slapped him in the eye. It enraged the firebender to know he was being bested by a lowly Water Tribe peasant; his Father would _never_ stand for such failure! He would just have to fight harder.

With his indomitable will, the odds started turning towards his victory, the pre-emptive attack worked on a waterbender unaccustomed to such violent power. Everything was working perfectly for him; he had forced the girl back to the defensive, driving her to the front of the ship, planning to make a display of her failure to his men.

_There;_ an opening in her guard, he stepped across himself, pivoting on the same foot to attack with his already raised left one. For a split second his back was turned, and as he reached with the left foot, sending a surge of flames her way, he felt a sudden lightness to his head, a relief of sorts. He looked down to find his ponytail‒drenched and still bound with the leather tie‒laying defeated and limp over his steel tipped boots.

Katara grinned inwardly, allowing a wicked giggle escape her lips, as she met the eyes of the stunned Prince. His expression turned to that of seething rage, and she vaguely registered that he was closer now; she could pick out the features on his face. She barely had time, though, because he curled in on himself, a huge concentration of fire in his hands before he released, an explosion surrounding him in twists of furious fire. He was the nucleus, the fire the electrons of a combustible element.

It blew her away, literally, sending her sliding across the metal deck. Katara took one last glance at her opponent; he was performing a series of aerial kicks, aiming the fire at her as she slid away. His last strike left him closer than expected, and for one instant their eyes locked; a chill swept over the waterbender as she met his smoldering amber orbs, illuminated by the light of his attacks. She had never seen amber eyes like that; dark, brooding, passionate, _angry, _eyes that hid a violent past, and foreshadowed an even more violent future.

Zuko thought something similar; how the surface of those striking eyes told of a fearsome hatred, and an even more terrifying coldness, but underneath was a complex sea of painful memories.

Katara ripped away first, feeling the sting of flames meet her guarding arm with a sizzle. She looked behind her, angling her still retreating body between railing and falling headfirst into the black ocean.

_Two days. _That was how long she had been at sea.

After leaving, or rather falling, from the Fire Nation ship, she had set off on her own, not bothering to tell her so-called ship mates where she was going.

She had decided‒whilst fashioning a sizeable ice floe out of salt water‒she would rather leave her belongings onboard the pirate ship and collect later, than deal with the whole crew of stinky men trying to throw her off anyways. Did she really want to fight twenty men for a few articles of clothing and a few gold pieces? _Hell no!_ What good would any of that do her in Earth Kingdom water?

She couldn't take the ship over either, she'd have to destroy them all first. Then what to do with a huge boat, no crew, and no idea where to port next?

So she boarded her ice floe and set off for Earth Kingdom coastline, recalling the bizarre turn of events. One minute she was happily hitchhiking with pirates, on her way to rescue her brother, then the shady Fire Nation Prince shows up, forcing her to abandon.

'_Maybe he thinks I'm dead…'_ How convenient that would be! It was a pretty far drop, even for a waterbender. She would still need to keep on her toes, the Prince was obviously a force to be reckoned with, but he had demonstrated his tendencies to underestimate. She smiled at the thought of his soggy, decapitated ponytail; the pure rage had been priceless!

Then, another thought occurred to her; she had been so near his head with her watery blade, why not just finish him? Was it to humiliate him? Perhaps to toy with her prey? Maybe it was even the challenge of the fight. Katara had never hesitated to deal a death blow, so why didn't she then? Was she… _unable _to kill him? How preposterous!

She wrote it off as preservation of her homeland, surely Ozai would attack the South with everything he had if the Water Tribe Princess murdered his son and heir, right? _Right._

Two days later, she was becoming dehydrated, she was starving and cold. More specifically her butt was cold, one could only sit on a block of ice for so long…

She sighed, rising up to assume her bending stance, her feet were cold too…

Several hours passed, the quiet swish of waves lulled Katara to sleep, or at least she thought it was sleep. Trance would be a more accurate description as she sat, lotus style, on the ice, bending temporarily abandoned.

In her trance, she sat on a carpet of lush green grass, before her a serene pond, two koi circling one another in an eternal dance. The water was clear blue, beautiful for such an odd scene. The place was enclosed by rock, a wooden arch behind her, and a misty twinge to the air.

This was the Spirit Oasis.

_ 'Come, we bear a message for the water child.' _Were the koi speaking? The voices were intriguing; something beyond words or language, it was like smelling violet and touching music notes. She sighed involuntarily, relaxing into the lull of the Oasis; it was spellbinding, irrevocable and undeniable in nature, absolute in power, and captivating in feeling. Katara began to lean forward, forward, _forward… Until…_

_ Splash!_

"Argh!" the drenched waterbender coughed up the ocean, dragging herself atop her stupid ice.

"Look! A mermaid!"

_'Really?' _She turned to the noise; a loaded fishing boat carrying a teen boy and an elderly man. She ignored her aversion to the green clothing and Earth Kingdom features, diving for it anyways and swinging herself over the worn wooden edge.

"What do you want waterbender?"

"A ride to shore. I don't hesitate, I don't care how many children you have to feed, just sail."

The old timer simply nodded, holding her eye contact for longer than necessary. The boy did not hesitate to jump in, _excitedly._

"Where are you traveling from?"

She snorted, giving him a sidelong glance. Surely he couldn't be serious? "The Southern Water Tribe."

"Oh, that's nice! Are you enjoying the weather? I hear it's very cold in the South."

"I have no interest in discussing the weather with a pre-teen boy, my apologies _sir._"

He stared at his shoes for a good while, looking genuinely hurt that the waterbending girl did not want to engage in small talk. Judging by the babyish qualities still clouding his face, he was only about fourteen, and to her astonishment, did not seem to harbor repugnance towards her or the Water Tribes.

"You don't hate me."

"I don't know you. Everyone is their own person, be it good or bad."

_'Hmph… Insightful…' _"I'm a bad person…" was her only reply.

"You don't have to be."

There was no more conversation following his assured statement; Katara felt it unnecessary to speak further to these people, and the boy only allowed his words sink in, the old man being predictably cold to their passenger.

The fishermen eventually deposited her on land, and she left her element to traverse the muggy Earth Kingdom mainland, littered with mountains and altogether too much earth for the waterbender's liking, she missed ice and snow.

Meals were few and far between, fast transport or shelter even more rare, but water was abundant in this lush land, even the trees were rich with water.

Finally, after weeks of walking, she was approaching the camp. It was exactly where Sokka had described, down to the stones surrounding the overgrown path. She could see the seal skin tents, smell the sweet sage burning, hear the serious whispers of military men.

"Hands in the air, little thing. Turn around real slow."

Katara smirked, a gesture quickly becoming her signature expression, and turned to face her old sparring buddy. "Nanoot."

"Princess Katara?" he stared dumbfounded, dropping to his knees in bow. "My apologies Princess, I had no idea it was you!"

She ignored his pleasantries, glancing over the camp and starting off at a near-run. "Come, where's my brother?"

"Master Katara, your brother's in the infirmary." Nanoot scrambled to keep up with the long-legged Princess, catching the almost imperceptible falter in her step.

"Excuse me?" She stopped abruptly, demanding, searching the soldier's eyes for a hint of joking warmth. She found none. "Why is he in the infirmary? He's not a healer!" She refused to believe the truth, refused to grasp reality; Sokka had to be ok, he just had to be.

"He was injured in combat, Your Highness," Nanoot trailed behind, balking as they reached the hospital tent.

"Katara!" He cringed, the Princess would not be pleased.

"Sokka!" Katara stopped before her brother, horrified by his appearance. His leg was set and bandaged, red stains covering the dirty white cloth. His cheek was sutured closed, a deep gash running from cheekbone to below the lip. His torso was by far the worst; completely bound in cloth, and saturated with dried blood, a horrible stench seeping through the bandages.

"Why has a healer not seen him?"

"The few benders we have left are not healers, Your Highness."

Katara turned, horror in her eyes as she assessed the situation; the fleet had left with over 40 benders, and more than 70 non-benders. Small as it was the fleet was strong, and before she left many were still alive.

"There was another attack three days ago…" he spoke as if he could read her mind. "Your brother was here, in the infirmary, when it occurred. A firebender left the main force, snuck in here and attempted to murder Prince Sokka…"

"Give me the details, Nanoot." She began stripping off layers of fabric around Sokka's waist, dropping the soiled fabric on the dirt floor. "In the meantime, I need water."

Nanoot bustled around, gathering supplies as Katara assessed the damage; one, two, _ three _stab wounds to the torso, surrounded by burns, the skin rotting and peeling off in places. The wounds themselves were not cauterized, she noted, watching yellowy liquid ooze from them.

"They struck in the dark hours of the morning, Earth Kingdom soldiers aided by a small number from the Nire Nation Navy. It was more of a raid; they took supplies, weapons, even one of our female waterbenders. God knows what they did with her… Then a masked man attacked the infirmary, he moved like a firebender, that much I know. He wielded double broadswords, with red accents."

"A mask? What of?"

"The Blue Spirit, Your Highness."

She stiffened, what a morbid choice of disguise, and a mockery to her people's legends at that. Her voice was quiet, controlled, deadly, when she spoke next. "A firebender wearing the mask of a Water Tribe spirit… How… _Odd…_"

Nanoot hummed in agreement, handing Katara a fresh bowl of water to replace her nearly empty one. He gathered the bandages in another bowl, grimacing at the streaks of infection and blood smeared across them.

"Wash those please, Nanoot."

"Of course, Your Highness."

"What happened to your cheek?" the waterbender asked, running her skilled fingers over her brother's stitches.

"I didn't catch boomerang in time… It sorta… Well, _backfired._" He whispered, sounding very much embarrassed and slightly ashamed, but, as all things with Sokka go, it was quickly forgotten. "What's the plan?" All business now that they were alone.

"We lay low, until you're healed. Then we move,"

"The man who tried to kill me, he was looking for women in here. When he found me, he just stopped and stared, like he knew who I was. Then he stabbed me… He called me by name…"

"I know who it is." She finished up with the wounds, staring into her sibling's eyes as she said the words. "He's the Fire Prince."

Sokka's jaw dropped in a goofy expression of astonishment. "_Whaaaa? _Since when do you know the _Fire Prince?"_

"I may have had an unpleasant run in with him on the way here."

"Katara, what happened?"

"I fought him." She briefly met his eyes again, before casting her gaze to the tent wall. "And he beat me… Drove me off the side of the ship, I thought he assumed I was dead… I _underestimated._"

"You never underestimate."

"This time I did…" Eventually she would have to discuss her plans with Sokka, now was better than never. "I have to go North, Sokka. I'm having these dreams of the Spirit Oasis… They're calling me…" There was a seriousness, a mutual understanding in the ensuing minutes, one that could only exist between siblings. A smile, a memory of the past, a hope for the future, in one instant words were irrelevant, but Sokka opened his big mouth anyways.

"Then go."

_Destination: Northern Water Tribe. Estimated Arrival: 1 week. Purpose of Mission: Council of the Tribes, trans-world communication._


	3. Chapter 3 - Bad Juju

**Author's notes:**

I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender or it's characters. All credit goes to Mike and Bryan.

Readers, give me your opinions on Yuri and Yaoi? I was considering it for this chapter, but thought you guys should let me know what you'd like to see! (I may insinuate something and see how you guys like it, be sure to review and let me know if you catch the pairing and your opinion of it)

Additional warning: there will be lemons in later chapters.

I only proof read this once (shame be uponst me) and it's getting late so I refuse to do so again, but still wanted to get this up. Let me know if you catch typos, errors, etc. Also, I have a hard time writing in the 2nd person POV, so if you catch me reverting to 1st person, please inform me!

Thank you!

**Chapter 3 – Bad Juju **

Katara sipped her tea quietly, positioned before the opening of the seal skin tent, and watching the rain drizzle sluggishly down to earth. It was unseasonably wet, even the trees were drowning in the saturated world, and the weather wasn't letting up anytime soon.

The waterbender absently raised her hand to call a few droplets to her; they were oddly tepid and felt like lukewarm blood seeping through her fingertips, a revolting feeling, if you were anyone but a killer. She frowned; freezing the droplets by exhaling carefully, then turning the icy pieces over in her hand. _The cold felt much more welcoming…_

Katara had remained in the Earth Kingdom for the last week‒against her former plans of travelling to the Northern Tribe‒ her reasoning being the delay wrought by the storm and a need to heal her injured brother. Whom was feeling much better, she noted, watching the warrior stuff food in his mouth like a starved komodo rhino. She grimaced, turning her eyes to the leaves settling at the bottom of her cup, and choosing to ignore the loud mouth noises from Sokka.

"Sho, wa is fer Prinz i?"

Katara raised her brows, giving her sibling a "you can't be serious?" look and huffing in exasperation as he chewed an enormous mouthful. The ensuing swallow looked painful, and she wondered how he didn't choke himself on a regular basis.

"What's this Fire Prince like?" He swished a gulp of tea around his mouth noisily, watching his sister's hesitation morph into that same chilling mask that haunted him since their mother died.

Katara pondered the best way to approach the subject, not that she was particularly careful to avoid insulting her enemies, she was simply careful of not stepping on too many of Sokka's toes. "What have _you _heard about him?"

He thought for a second‒recalling his private tutoring and histories, even his basic knowledge of the Fire Nation royal family‒and came up blank, there was nothing but a name and a title. "I don't know… I never learned anything but the basics. I remember learning about Azula, Ozai, even the Fire Lady, but never the Prince…"

"Doesn't that seem a little strange to you?"

He nodded in response, knowing Katara was getting to something eventually, she always did, and she wouldn't disappoint.

"He's scarred, Sokka. A huge burn scar covers his left eye."

"Training accident?" he speculated, taking in a much smaller bite of food.

"Maybe… But it looks deliberate…"

"Assassination attempt, maybe?"

"Perhaps…" The waterbender murmured, musing over the cause and effect of such a thing, wondering what exactly happened when such a crude offense was directed against the Fire Nation royal family. She was so deep in her own thoughts she barely heard Sokka yapping at her.

"_Katara?_"

"Hm?"

"I _said_, what else can you tell me about him?"

"Typical Fire Nation I guess; black hair, well… he's bald now… Amber eyes, pale skin. Has a really bad attitude, hot-headed, but that's no surprise for a firebender…"

"So, an angry jerk, basically?"

"Basically," she agreed with a nod.

Sokka finished his meal while Katara worked on his wounds, a particularly tedious task for the high-strung bender, but necessary nonetheless. They chatted absently as she healed, most of the conversation geared around military strategy, as usual, but slowly drifting to deeper things. They spoke of her vision of Tui and La, and her plans to leave for the Northern Tribe.

"You have to go," Sokka insisted, stopping her hand with his own when she refused to listen.

She let the water drip off her fingers, staring at Sokka's large hand, his _warm_ hand, so unlike her own small, cold ones. His fingers flexed more tightly; _well, maybe not entirely unlike…_ Their skin was a perfect match, their coloring in general identical; they could have been mistaken for fraternal twins were he two years younger.

"I have to heal you first."

"I'm ninety six percent better, I promise, and you can't ignore the Spirits any longer, they're not exactly the merciful type, Katara."

"I don't need mercy," she bit out, snatching her hand away roughly. He flinched visibly and she recognized the hurt in his eyes; he was strong, but they were each other's weakness, and he could only handle so much of her taciturn front.

"You have to go," he repeated, begging her with his expression, pleading with his eyes.

Katara had no choice, it was just a matter of when, and with Sokka on the mend and the Fire Nation and Earth Kingdom temporarily subdued, now was a better chance than ever. It would take her two weeks there and back, plus whatever time was spent in between, she estimated three days, but obviously her calculations were a little off recently. The main question in her mind was whether the fleet could handle themselves for nearly three weeks with so many injured and missing, or dead.

"We'll be ok," he said, as if reading the words from a chronological book of her mind. "It will be under a month, by then we'll be back on our feet and ready to fight again."

She nodded solemnly, picking up the soiled bandages and busying herself with completing her healing session. "I'll leave at sunup,"

"Be sure to pick up some supplies from Nanoot."

Again she nodded, not truly intending to take anything from the already strained camp, but humoring her over-protective brother. Tomorrow she would be back to her beloved Ocean, granted the one that had almost killed her numerous times, but amongst the soothing waves and salty air.

* * *

"I'm looking for a ship headed to the Northern Water Tribe,"

The General store owner simply raised his brows condescendingly. "You've got to be joking."

"No, in fact, I am in no way attempting to be humorous. Now can you tell me which ship is setting a course for the Northern Tribe?"

"None of them. Trade has been extremely unsettling with the Northern Tribe, they're starting to abolish routes and turn inward. Where have you been living this past year?" He was sarcastic, something Katara hated when not in good fun, and despite his earlier suggestion of her jest, he was not kidding.

"On a block of ice." She retorted, quite sourly, and turned on her heel.

As Katara soon confirmed, there were no boats trading with the Northern Tribe, aside from an extremely small vessel, manned by a shady looking gentleman in traditional Earth Kingdom attire. The boat was clearly Water Tribe, judging by the craftsmanship, and he was just preparing to shove off.

"Hey!" She called, jogging easily towards the man and putting on her best "damsel in distress" act.

"Are you headed to the Northern Tribe?" She plastered a desperate, yet hopeful expression in place, formulating a lie as he scanned her warily.

His eyes were brown, and to her shock, they reminded her of Altsoba's. They were filled with apprehension, and after studying her for several long seconds he spoke; a disgruntled, off voice with no emotion.

"Can I help you?"

"I'm trying desperately to return to my Tribe! I was here visiting with some traders in the area, I was lost and they left without me. I'm terribly sorry to be so bold, but would you be willing to help me home? I can assist you with whatever you need along the way!" Katara knew full well the man was unmarried, and was probably accustomed to the traditions of the Northern Tribe, which meant women were expected to cook, clean, and mend clothing, no questions asked.

"Are you strong?" the question caught her completely off guard, clearly she was slipping.

"Uh, I suppos‒"

"I need a hand unloading the supplies when I arrive, if you want a ride, you'll have to help."

"O-Of course!" She feigned a stutter and a girly smile, eagerly moving to step in the boat, he stopped her.

"If you're a wanted criminal, or some kind of psycho killer, I won't hesitate to throw you overboard."

"Me? Oh no, no! I'm not one for war or killing." Another sweet smile and he lowered his barring arm, she settled happily, and when he turned to untie the small boat from the dock, she smirked. _If only he knew…_

The ride was altogether unpleasant; he had shoved various articles of clothing her direction, demanding she mend them. Katara had grit her teeth and searched through his fantastic array of threads and needles, earning more than a few miniature stab wounds along the way. Upon finishing she dared him to complain about the haphazard line of stitches. Like a wise man, he didn't.

He was an entirely soundless man, only speaking when he thought it necessary, and rarely asking questions. The ride was silent, only the lap of waves against the boat's side, and the gentle flapping of the sail against the wind. The temperature gradually cooled the further North they were, and Katara's _gracious_ captain refused outright to lend her his extra parka. If she were a firebender, she was sure her blood would be boiling.

It came as a surprise, four days into the journey, when he finally directed a personal question at her. She was sitting in the boat, knees pulled up to her chest, shivering. If she had it her way, she would have shivered with dignity and avoided the fetal position at all costs, but she was still playing the part of a helpless girl.

"Why didn't you bring your own parka?" He was staring out over the water, eyes searching for other ships, not that he'd find any in the middle of nowhere.

"I sold it," she quipped, sounding believable as any distressed girl. "I didn't have any money for food."

"Mmmph…" He scrutinized her, the Waterbender shivered under his glare, much like she did when Altsoba was displeased. "You don't look like a Northerner."

"My mother was from the Southern Tribe," she said, and it wasn't a lie, she pulled on her shut-out memories to aid her tone, ones that would make her sound distant and nostalgic, far away. It worked.

"Are you a bender?"

"I-I am,"

"Are you any good?"

"I don't know, women are not allowed to learn combat in my Tribe. I'm only a healer."

He seemed satisfied with her answer, turning back to the sea. A thought crossed her mind; she had never learned his name, which was an odd thing for a woman not to ask. Well, odd for women aside from herself.

"What's your name?"

"Lee."

She resisted the urge to call bullshit, instead opting for a gentler approach. "I met several people named Lee while in the Earth Kingdom, it must be quite common." An undertone of suspicion, an overtone of sickening sweetness, and presto he was putty in her hands.

He cleared his throat nervously, glancing her direction for a split second before averting his gaze. Down and to the left, another lie coming on.

"It's my middle name."

"Oh. I see…"

Katara left him to sweat it out, offering pleasant smiles when he glanced nervously in her direction. The game didn't last more than half an hour.

"Your name?"

"Kya." She smiled brightly, making the briefest of eye contact; he visibly bristled at her striking eyes. Again she smirked behind his back, enjoying the toying period before she obliterated his false opinions upon their arrival. He was more comfortable with small talk now anyways, so she had more to work with, more to distort and twist.

"You said your mother was from the Southern Tribe?"

"Mhm."

"Did you ever visit?"

"Once, when I was a toddler. It's not exactly turn left at the next glacier,"

"Right…" He cleared his throat again. "Other side of the world and all…"

"You're quite daring to be trading to the Tribes in times of war."

He stared anxiously in the direction of their travels, as if willing the glaciers to spring into view and save him from the uncomfortable conversation. Katara thought how it was almost cute how desperate he was, _almost_.

"I don't give a damn about the war or it's political figureheads." He was blunt and somewhat bitter, but not totally unreasonable. "I think we should just leave each other alone, power crazy brutes like the Southern Chief and the Fire Lord need to be taken out. We've already lost one race in the last hundred years; the world won't survive without another one."

"Maybe that's exactly what we need, to lose another one, we would balance the yin yang of the world then." Katara whispered, forgetting herself for a moment, and becoming caught up in the man's speculations.

She had to give him credit; he was surprisingly intelligent for a simple trader in a rundown boat the size of two bathtubs. Despite her disagreement with his personal beliefs, she was mildly impressed with his demonstration of reason. Maybe he wasn't so dense after all.

"What was that?"

"Hm? Oh nothing… Nothing at all…"

The remaining days passed with ease, though no more words were spoken between passenger and trader. When the gates of the Northern Water Tribe were in view, the trader let out a small sigh of what she assumed was excitement, guiding the vessel through the gates with precision and waving congenially to the benders controlling the huge walls of ice.

The minute they stepped foot on the snowy dock, there were murmurs amongst the Tribesmen waiting to inspect the load, murmurs about the girl accompanying him.

"I thought you said you were from the Tribe," he challenged as they passed each other, casually unloading the cargo. He spoke through his teeth, obviously holding back the rage that threatened to bubble over, she had lied, and now he knew.

"I am, just not from _this_ Tribe." She dropped all pretense of the helpless little girl, hefting a heavy wooden box into her arms and carrying it to the dock. "Lee" was not too far behind.

"Who the hell do you think you are? You share my ship, my space, my food _for a week_ and lie to me about your identity?"

She nodded slowly, an off smile curving her lips, a smile that would make him feel utterly unintelligent. "I happen to know, that _Lee_ is not _your_ name, sir. Actually, from spending the past week with you I know a lot of things, care for me to elaborate?"

He opened his mouth as if to speak, then promptly closed it, finding his words useless and sour in his mouth.

"You rarely use your right hand, particularly for activities requiring strength, like sailing. Instead, you use your left hand, your dominant hand, taking brunt of the labor with it. My guess is that you have early onset arthritis in the right due to a previous quite peculiar, you are right footed, and in combat I would more than ascertain you are comfortable with right foot techniques. You keep a small knife tucked into your left boot, and for the first two days of traveling slept with an additional knife under your faux-pillow made of wadded old by your opinion of the war, you were a former Earth Kingdom soldier, but found war to be a revolting and unsatisfactory career choice. You deserted, and now hold allegiance to no country or it's royal family. Your mother died when you were a child, the end result being children raised by their eldest brother, you, who held a great deal of responsibility on his shoulders and became a reserved, passive aggressive man with little tolerance for bullshit and a secret compassion for anyone left refused to share your parka because it wasn't yours, the size was too small for your shoulders and smelled of the underside of a hundred-year-old garment trunk. Probably a loved one's that you carry with you to remind you of the person, my bet is a deceased fiancé or wife. Another bet; she was Water Tribe. The old mends on your clothing suggests such a thing."

His fists were clenched, his teeth grinding together, his shoulders tense and waiting. He was beyond angry, he was furious, but the waterbender wasn't finished.

"Again, I will ask you," his voice was forcibly controlled, deliberate and hinting at a threat "who the hell are you?"

"I'm simply an excellent observer, _Lee._ It's what I do; I watch people, I plan, I strategize, then I attack," she smiled again, one that was far too happy to be sane.

Just as he moved to strike, a man's voice called out; deep and strong, prestigious and holding all the power of a vengeful Spirit, but at the same time warm like the communal fires. "Princess Katara!"

"Lee's" eyes widened as the girl turned to meet the Chief Arnook, pleasantries exchanged and genuine smiles returned. He, in that second, realized how very wrong his opinion of the "helpless" Tribal girl was. Princess Katara was a well-known figure to the trader, who frequented the Northern Tribe on the basis of a bi-monthly arrangement. The men whom he traded with exchanged many stories of the girl‒in return for a little imported fire whiskey of course‒and it was common knowledge the Princess was just as ruthless and calculated as Princess Azula of the Fire Nation. The trader had been horrified to hear their stories, no gory details spared, thanks to the liquor, and vowed if he ever met the woman he would turn tail and run. Now the time had come and he had every intention of doing just that; he silently wished the stories would be wrong, that they were just dramatizations and truly she would be like the sweet, submissive, Northern Princess. Those hopes had been dashed with her first accurate description of his personal flaws; something any normal human being would hardly care about.

"The men will inspect the load and offer you a price," Chief Arnook was speaking to him now, directing his thoughts away from the painfully beautiful, disturbing girl at his side and back to his job. "Then you may be on your way." They clasped forearms in the traditional Tribal handshake and the trader couldn't wait to be _"on his way."_

* * *

"Tell us of the state of our sister tribe, Princess Katara," Chief Arnook requested, raising his gentle gaze to her own.

She sat to his left, Princess Yue at his right, in a council of the Tribes.

They sat on a raised platform of ice, the council members and elders sitting before them to form the perimeter of a rectangle. Directly in front of their raised position lay a smooth expanse of ice, one Katara planned to use to the best of her ability, literally.

"If I may, Chief Arnook?" She began to rise from her seat; he nodded, excusing her from the place beside him.

She made her way gracefully to the open expanse, all eyes on her as she performed a series of bending movements, satisfied when she heard the approving "oohs" and "ahhs" of the people in attendance.

Below her feet was now a map of the four Nations; intricate and whole, even the Air Temple Islands and Kyoshi were displayed.

"The Southern Tribe, as of late, has made a series of military advances on the Earth Kingdom. We have chosen to avoid the larger cities, that is, until all minor armies have been annihilated in the surrounding areas." Katara began to gesture with her words, pointing out the key landmarks on the map as she explained their basic strategy. "Recently we launched a fleet in the Northern expanse of the Kingdom, but upon arrival, the fleet found the enemy aided by the Fire Nation Navy. There has been a similar problem with fleets in the Southern areas of the Kingdom as well; it seems the Fire Nation has formed a tense alliance with the Earth Kingdom, a 'two against one' scenario." She paused, catching the bewildered glances of many of the men on the council; women were not permitted involvement in matters of war here, it was even a wonder Yue was in attendance, much less a woman representing the Southern Tribe. "In matters of economy, the Southern Tribe is becoming stressed. Food and medical supplies are becoming rationed, with inflation rates skyrocketing in the last few months. There is simply not enough to go around. Naturally, trade has all but become a distant dream for our Tribe."

"And what are your plans for improvement, Princess Katara?"

"With the Southern winter fast approaching we have only one plan; survive. In the spring months we intend to expand fishing waters off the Eastern Coast, near the Southern Earth Kingdom. Of course the ideal long-term proposal is that we begin to colonize the area, and expand to the farming regions, supplying more food for our growing population." The elders hummed in agreement as she pointed with her boot toes to the proper locations. Her hands were clasped tightly behind her back in a rigid display of poise, her usual military stance. "The need for medical supplies is being taken care of as we speak, with the addition of a new infirmary and several hired hands, all which are waterbending healers."

"And how do you intend to pay these healers?"

"The spoils of war, Chief. Quite the profitable business when you know where to strike."

"Katara?"

"Hello Yue,"

Princess Yue's returning smile was brilliant in the full moon, her movements fluid as she came to stand beside the Southern Princess.

They were the definition of opposite; one a gentle natured girl, delicate as the first flurries of snow and equally as soft-hearted, the other a harsh girl who grew up too quickly in the face of war, and possessed the compassion and tenderness of a rock.

Despite their bizarrely different upbringing, they faced adversity and forged an odd sort of friendship, the kind that defied the laws of reason and threw prejudice out the window. The girls themselves refused to call it a friendship; Katara thinking it too loving of a term for a girl she saw once every few years at best, and Yue disliking the term for what it insinuated, she was not one to associate with power hungry monsters.

Nonetheless, they were amiable to each other, even sociable, if you wanted to call it such. And they had come to a mutual understanding that was not easily forgotten. Katara would call it tolerance, and Yue would claim societal expectations. (Though secretly she accounted the time she spent with the Southern Princess as her own temporary fit of madness) And when the time came for Katara to depart, or Yue as it had been in the past, they would offer pleasant goodbyes and part ways without hurt pride or feelings of discontent. That was the way their relationship worked, how it always would be, unless they decided to outgrow their understanding and take up the casual distrust that plagued noblewomen like fleas to wild rabbaroos.

In the end, it came to no surprise that Yue would find Katara in the wee hours of the night. That was the way they worked; Yue assuming the position of the moon, always _knowing_ where the waterbender was, and Katara assuming the position of the riotous Ocean, being pushed and pulled by careful words and Yue's soothing presence until both were as calm as the clear night sky. Tonight was no different.

"Can't sleep?" she eased herself onto the ice railing of the balcony, long blue robes trailing the ground while she lazily bobbed her legs about.

"Nope, you know me." Katara stared up at the moon, pretending to be enthralled by the rocky grey surface, but instead appearing aloof and irritated, which she was_. On the inside…_

"What's troubling you?"

It both terrified and fascinated the waterbender how easily Yue could pick up on her upset, there was no hiding from the emotionally perceptive moonchild.

"I need to visit the Spirit Oasis… Think you can help me with that?"

"Is this something to do with Tui and La?"

"It most certainly is."

Yue's pale blue eyes met Katara's and they exchanged knowing smiles, Yue reached over to lay a gentle hand on the waterbender's shoulder. "Then I can _most certainly _assist you."

The girls made their way to the Oasis, no words were spoken, but they didn't need words. They had an understanding.

The trek wasn't long, but the altitude considerable, the air thinning into barely anything but empty lungfuls and painstaking gasps for breath. But once inside the Oasis, the air thickened into an oxygen rich haven for the over-exerted, and the girls inhaled deeply.

"I've always loved this place…" Yue murmured as they stepped through the archway.

The scenery unfolded before Katara exactly as her vision; the lush grass, the wooden archway, the serene pool with the moon and ocean spirits in their Eternal dance.

But another sight caused her blood to run cold; shock encompassing her entire body like an uncomfortable cocoon. Such a coincidence, or rather an occurrence, was something her Grandmother Kanna would have called "bad juju," hinting at the other worldly nature of such a misfortune or hardship.

Yue gasped beside the waterbender as she steeled herself; staring into the black pits of the mask's eyes and knowing truly, they were not alone.

_ Destination: Spirit Oasis; 40 feet North from current location. Estimated Arrival: Live in Action. Purpose of Mission: Exact revenge on the masked murderer known as "The Blue Spirit."_


	4. Chapter 4 - Resurrected

**Author's notes:**

I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender or it's characters. All credit goes to Mike and Bryan.

Thanks for the Reviews guys! Please keep them coming, I need all the constructive criticism I can get! (I will be putting review responses below A/N, be sure to look for yours)

Side note: Katara is seventeen, unlike the original show, where she is 14(?). The rest of the characters are approximately three years older as well (Sokka and Zuko-19)

This chapter will be moving along quickly, since I'm trying to get to the good stuff before my ADD takes over. This chapter ended up being waaayyy longer than planned... Sorry...

**Review Responses: **

**To the "Guest" reviewer who mentioned Zutara: I've been trying to set the stage (though not sure how great of a job I've been doing) for the following Zutara moments, but never fear, there will be much more Katara/Zuko interaction in this chapter than those previous, and I'm planning much, **_**much**_** more for chapter 5! Thanks so much for the compliment and the review! **

**To the other "Guest" reviewer who mentioned Ozai's take on fighting foreign domination rather than leading it: I hope I answered some of those questions in this chapter with the short dialogue between him and Azula (yes, everyone's favorite psycho is finally here!) and I will definitely be elaborating more on the matter in later chapters! Thanks to you also for the compliment and the review! **

**Chapter 4 – Resurrected**

"Katara… back away…" came the panicked voice of the Northern Princess, her hand finding purchase on the waterbender's elbow. She tugged gently, but the Southern girl might as well have been made of stone.

Yue took the hint, noticing the rigid set of her shoulders, and instead backed away, taking cautious steps until she hit the wooden arch. She watched in horror as the scuffle erupted; soon finding The Blue Spirit was indeed not a Spirit, but rather a man, one who's circular movements and agile form could be nothing but a firebender. Her suspicions were confirmed when he shot the first offensive move; aiming the flames straight for Katara's head. Of course, he missed, the waterbender was too quick, but Yue could sense the tension in her friend, the uncharacteristic stringency in this fight. _He must certainly be a formidable foe…_

The firebender attacked with a spectacular display of animosity, his element throwing life against the cold stone of the Oasis walls, gray becoming oranges and intense yellows. And, after every deluge, quiet became the eerie waiting period. There would be a pause, the girl would stop, anticipate, watching his feet, hands, and torso to predict his next movement, then spiral away when it came. She was wearing him out, playing on his temper, his brute strength and breath, until those things eluded him.

When sufficient time had passed, and the masked man was becoming sluggish and out of breath, Katara began to return the attacks. She would shoot him a baleful glare, gathering what water she could from the air, refusing to touch that of the sacred pond, and violently deliver her countermove.

"Why don't you take the mask off, _Prince?_" she would taunt, spinning and pivoting away from the pure heat energy, landing gracefully to throw her own element before twisting away again.

Yue thought it odd, the forcefulness with which they attacked, coupled with the carefulness. Whether they knew it or not, this fight was not to the death, at least not _yet_… She hadn't seen Katara fight for some years, but she remembered the malice with which she would attack, leaving no survivors or even dream of holding back. Now, as a flood of water ripped the man's mask away, she wondered where the hesitation had sprung from; the Katara she knew would have no less severed his face clean from his body if given the chance, and here she was _toying_ with the man in battle, removing his mask as if it were a friendly sparring match.

The removal of the mask only stunned Yue more; the scar on the man's face was truly fearsome, not to mention the startling Fire Nation qualities.

"I see your hair is starting to grow in," Katara smirked victoriously, catching sight of the short black bits sticking up in a disheveled mess.

"Don't patronize me!" he barked, throwing a series of open-handed techniques, slicing through the air with arcs of orange fire.

The scene would have been beautiful, the fight a real spectacle, if not for the increasing disquiet of the Spirits in such place. The wrath of the Spirits was not something either bender would consider, they weren't particularly spiritual people, aside from respect for signs and the unknown, but it came as no surprise to Yue when the sacred pond formed little waves on the smooth surface. She averted her pale blue gaze from the benders, and she watched the koi become erratic, swimming in furious circles around one another. Small tidal waves began to form, crashing over the edge of the pond and unto the dry land, the crystalline water filtering through the grasses, more and more until dampness became inches deep. Yue glanced to the Fire Prince and Southern Water Princess, the waterbender was now picking the pond water off the ground absently, using it as a weapon instead of the humidity in the air. Meanwhile the firebender furiously disregarded the water at his feet, spiraling, kicking, striking out, flames erupting in every direction, his temper causing recklessness. They had no idea of the precariously rising water level.

"Katara!" Yue called out in distress, but the girl refused to turn her head from combat, instead bending the ground water up and freezing it into hundreds of little daggers. The firebender counteracted with a whirl of fire, the ice exploding and evaporating before it had even a hope of wounding the Prince.

"Katara! _Stop right now!_" Yue screamed out, and both benders faltered, glancing back at her simultaneously.

_Then_ they looked down; seeing their shoes saturated with the blessed water, the water expressing the anger of the Spirits, and the disproval of Tui and La. But they looked too late; the water swirling up to encompass their legs, rooting them to ground in spite of their struggles. Katara glanced to the pond, panic filling her piercing blue eyes as she watched the erratic movements of the moon and ocean spirits, and as she realized her additional offense of using the Oasis water. The fear in her eyes did not go unnoticed by the Fire Prince, and it chilled him to the bone to know that anything could terrify the brutal, fearless, Water Tribe heir.

Their eyes did not meet, nor did they speak as the water swallowed them up, dragging them into the sacred pond, but their mutual feeling was understood, the battle temporarily forgotten as they thrashed in the diaphanous water.

Katara kept her eyes open, observing the koi as they began to circle once more, the two benders at the center of their circle. From the outside the pond appeared shallow, no more than two feet deep, but from the inside the pond stretched indefinitely downward, somehow always retaining the surface light and never darkening, no matter how deep. The water encompassed them with the expression of feeling, this world beneath the water seeming more or less runic in nature, taking away the concept of reality and dashing it against the rocks. It had a tendency to muddle clear thought, making it's captors succumb to an unreal world, to forget hate, pain, wickedness. _To elicit peace…_

Unfortunately Katara was not one to easily forget wickedness, and the Fire Prince was not one to cast aside hate with little more than a second glance. They fought against the water, and somewhere in their struggles, against each other. The waterbender managed to lock her legs around his neck in a choke hold, and this time their eyes met, his angry and desperate while she strangled him, forcing the sacred water into his lungs. She watched his amber eyes widen in alarm, the water rushing in to drown him, then those same eyes drift away as his stored oxygen ran out.

She released him, watching as he drifted further down, far below the koi, far below her. She turned away, rejoicing that it was over, he was gone, she was no longer plagued by the ridiculous confusion regarding the Prince. She swam to the surface, reaching out, joyous in her victory, disregarding the material Spirits swimming around her.

She reached, her fingers skimming the top, she could feel the crisp air above, relief was coming to her burning lungs and foggy mind. But it never did; the gravity of her world upended, flipping itself so the air was below, the water stretching indefinitely _above_. A pit grew in her stomach and she felt woozy and disoriented; the koi were suddenly nowhere to be found, the supposed air below her hardening to ice. The previously warm water turned as frigid as the ice itself, and she struggled to overcome the piercing migraine that split her head. Against her steel will, she screamed; a bloodcurdling cry of agony that expunged her lungs of air and left her hyperventilating the frigid waters, freezing her from the inside out.

She drifted in the water, feeling a blackness overtake her, and grey crowding in around the corners of her eyes. Before her vision failed, she looked up; seeing the endless water above shift to a luminescent gold-tinged liquid, swirling in turmoil, swirling like the molten eyes of her dead enemy.

She mused over the view, in spite of herself. '_A beautiful last glance…" _she thought, her determination and will giving out as she drifted away.

* * *

"_Mooooommmy!_ Look it's a dead person! Can I poke it? _Can I?_"

"_Oh sweet Agni…_" Her voice was distressed as she pulled the small boy away from the body, reprimanding him for saying such things of the dead. "Stay away from her, dear. Come now."

The woman stared warily at the body; a thin girl, strewn arbitrarily across the sand, her dark skin covered in bruises. She didn't appear to be breathing, and her head was turned slightly, exposing a cheek too sunburned to appear ashen in death, but her body was suspiciously intact, no wounds or missing limbs to speak of.

The mother drug her curious boy away from the scene, choosing to ignore the deceased woman and continue their fun day farther up the beach. Whatever had occurred, she did not want to be part of it...

Meanwhile a battle was being fought within Katara; succumb to death, or brave the stifling heat and carry on? The darkness was comfortable, enveloping her like a cool night, soothing her burned cheeks with the temperature. On the other hand, the stifling heat was just that, _stifling_, and despite her strength of mind, she despised the heat and all that came with it.

Her choice was made when she felt a stick being jabbed into her back, quite annoyingly, and reality flooded back to her. The cooling night was truly water, waves against the shore to be exact, rushing up to her face as she lay front-down on the sand. The stifling heat was the humid air and heavy sun beating down on her exposed cheek and arms. A sense of déjà vu overcame her, was this not a ridiculous repeat of Kyoshi Island? La must be out to get her…

The rowdy child only exacerbated her hatred of such a hot climate, but he made her transition into the realm of the living that much quicker. She groaned, rolling over on her back and throwing a sore arm over her eyes.

"_It's alive!_" he screeched, running away to retrieve his mother from their new location.

The sun blinded her as she sat up, spitting out a mouthful of sand and rinsing the grit out with the waves lapping at her feet. She glanced around, taking note of the flora and native people. Definitely Fire Nation.

The boy promptly returned, mother in tow. Katara carefully turned her eyes away, not ready to reveal her identity as a Water Tribe woman.

"Hello?" the woman hesitated, moving closer cautiously.

"Where am I?" she demanded, brushing sand off her partially bared legs, now red from prolonged sun exposure.

"Ember Island… How did y‒"

"What season is this?"

"Early winter…" she responded carefully, flinching when the girl's eyes whipped to hers in shock.

Ember Island was north of the equator, so seasons were reversed here. She had left the Southern Tribe in March, early fall, and travelled to the Northern Earth kingdom, where it was early spring. That meant over four months had passed since her time in the Northern Water Tribe.

She recalled her memory of the Spirit Oasis, drowning, assuming she was dying, but here she was; four months later, washed up on the shores of the Fire Nation. Sure she was weak, thirsty, and malnutritioned, but certainly not dead.

Immediately her brother came to mind; she had abandoned him and the fleet, and chances were they were either dead or starved by now. If they happened to make it back to Altsoba and the Tribe, there was no doubt they would report her missing or dead, and the advisors and generals would be well on their way to screwing up her Tribe.

By now the plans should have been in action to begin colonizing the Southern Earth Kingdom, and she wondered if they had gone through with it, or if the council had vetoed the movement. Also, was Sokka stepping up as heir now that they assumed her dead? Or did he still refuse? Perhaps he was assumed dead as well… And what was the state of the war? A lot could happen in two seasons… The Earth Kingdom could be extirpated by now and she wouldn't even know, on the other hand she supposed her own Tribe could be as well, what with the idiotic Generals in charge… Altsoba had more common sense than to let those bastards control his choices, right?

She had to get to a capital city, and _fast._ She could infiltrate the city and gather information from the incoming and outgoing information, as well as the internal war meetings and councils. It would be a week's journey, but the Fire Nation capital was her closest bet. Not to mention the most beneficial in terms of collecting information…

"What is the easiest way to get to the capital?"

"I'm not sure I should tell you‒"

Katara blew out an icy breath; creating a layer of frost on the hot sand beneath her feet, a small example of her dangerous power. The young mother caved.

"It's about a week from here, if you go to the town square, there's a man by the name of Ling who travels frequently to the capital. He has more than enough room in his carts to help you,"

"Thank you," the waterbender muttered, pushing up to stand on shaky legs.

She truly had no intention of catching a ride with this man by the name of Ling. She would wait until nightfall, sneak into the town square, and steal one of the precious animals he used to pull his 'carts.' If she risked the daylight hours she risked being captured by the guards, and this woman would undoubtedly report her. Katara had the sense to know she was in no condition to fight.

_One week later…_

"We crush them, we burn them to the ground." An arrogant, female voice sifted across the room to Katara, where she was perched behind a particularly large statue, lounging undetected by the palace guards. She picked at a strange fruit, native to the Fire Nation, as she listened to the War Meeting currently in order. Silently she applauded Princess Azula; she was truly a brilliant mind, the perfect General born in a woman's body. But Katara knew deep within herself, she would murder the Princess if ever given a chance, and she didn't bat an eye at the idea. From what she knew of her, the feeling would be mutual.

"You are suggesting we turn against the Earth Kingdom, Princess?"

"When they have served their purpose, yes. Their numbers will be decimated by the destruction of the Southern Water Tribe. When the time comes we will send reinforcements from the capital, reserve troops, who will finish off the Tribe and any straggling Earth Kingdom soldiers."

"In turn gaining the control the Southern Water Tribe seeks…" murmured the chilling voice of Fire Lord Ozai.

"World domination," Azula confirmed bluntly.

"A most excellent plan Your Highness…" One of the Generals applauded, and the rest followed suit. Katara smirked, knowing the Princess was sitting smugly, looking down upon the Generals from her place at Ozai's right hand. She would do the same in her position; in fact, she imagined Azula was one of the only people who she could compare herself to. She wondered how such a weak-hearted Prince could have possibly been the sibling of such an unyielding young woman as Azula, it simply didn't make sense. Azula was calculated, precise, ruthless, where the Prince had been nothing but a whirlwind of fury, temper, and ill-planning.

"Leave us," Ozai commanded suddenly.

When the Generals had filed out, Ozai addressed Azula directly. "The funeral for Prince Zuko will be held within the week. You may launch your plans directly after the event has settled."

"Tch. I don't understand why we even need to hold a funeral for Zuko. My brother or not, he was a banished idiot who died a shameful death. It's not like we even found the body anyways, he just disappeared."

_Banished?_ The Fire Nation Prince was banished? Katara strained to hear more, but the room had suddenly fallen silent.

"Be ready to set out in _two_ weeks' time. You will rendezvous with the Earth Kingdom army, then proceed as planned."

"Yes father…"

Azula was excused from the throne room, Katara following stealthily behind through the palace. She would play the cat, and Azula the mouse. The game was a refreshing change from the boorish hours spent sleuthing around the uniform hallways, waiting for something exciting to happen. Something rarely did.

She followed through the halls, twisting and turning through long corridors and rooms, unnoticed by the Fire Princess, her steps quiet against the polished stone floors, her movements flowing and invisible, like water seeping through pipes.

Azula took an abrupt turn, and Katara followed, slipping into a private study just as the Princess leapt onto the outside balcony railing and gracefully scaled the wall to the roof. Again, just like the cat, Katara followed, searching to ensure the Princess was well on the other side of the gabled rooftop.

Confident the Princess' attention was on the distance to the next section of palace roof‒which was a considerable gap of about 20 feet‒Katara lithely swung up, her feet landing precisely at the edge of her side. Instantly the Fire Princess pivoted on her own end, facing Katara directly with a smirk that told her she had known of their little game all along.

"Azula," the waterbender acknowledged, the women mirroring each other with hands clasped behind their backs.

"Katara, am I right? The supposedly deceased Princess of the Southern Water Tribe, the girl who murdered my useless brother?"

"You're quite perceptive,"

"It's what I do," the Princess answered instantly, and Katara's smirk turned into a grin. Had she not said those same words to the Earth Kingdom tradesman months ago? She understood the comparisons now, the people who would say she was as ruthless as Princess Azula, she was very much like this stony woman… Did Zuko notice the similarities before he died? Did he accept his death at the hands of a woman much like his own sibling? Did it make it easier, or harder?

"Tell me, Water Tribe, did my brother beg for his life? Did he grovel at your _feet_ like the coward he is?"

"Unfortunately, no. Though it would have been so much more satisfying, don't you think?"

Azula's mouth quirked up in fake amusement, they approached each other slowly, eyes locked in challenge.

"You know, I envy you," Azula began, averting her gaze casually. "I was never much of one for the concept of honor. It's too restricting, too _good._ I much prefer the idea of glory, the right to take what you are capable of taking, no questions asked."

"Well, such a shame you weren't born in the Water Tribe, hm?"

"Oh _please,_ like I would live on a block of ice like a barbarian? I don't think so."

Katara struck then, pulling water from the courtyard trees, attempting to catch the Princess off guard. Azula ducked, spinning away and countering with a strike of her own; blue flames racing out with ferocious intensity to sever the waterbender's throat, but she was already gone, disappearing like a shadow in the midday sun.

Princess Azula's blood boiled, but she had a feeling this would not be their only meeting. So with a sour, black heart she returned to her rooms, awaiting a funeral, awaiting a war, awaiting an even match.

* * *

During the meeting Katara learned one thing; the remains of a scattered Water Tribe fleet were holding out in the Southern Earth Kingdom, near Chin Village. Their commander was unknown, but the fleet had been steadily travelling south, avoiding conflict. Based upon the reports, they were trying to get home.

It was Katara's only lead, and she jumped on it. She had no more information to gather, no more Princesses to antagonize, and no more hellish beaches to wash up on. It was time to bring her brother home‒whether it be his dead body, or his living, breathing flesh‒no delays or distractions, her second attempt would not fail.

Now, as she strode through the Earth Kingdom docks, she smiled. She could feel a change in the air, something was about to happen, something incredible. There was a liveliness in the people that was uplifting, one that emanated from the town like fog in a gentle valley; it took the place of hardship and suffering, and gave the world a cheery glow.

Katara speculated if it was an Earth Kingdom holiday, something she had overlooked? Either way, the locals didn't seem to mind a traveler such as herself, or else they didn't notice.

She made her way to the outskirts of Chin Village with little trouble, enjoying the brisk walk and fresh scenery. At the port she had stopped to purchase some new clothing with the money she'd picked off a nobleman at the docks, a considerable purse, and chances are the man still didn't miss it. Katara felt a little odd, pick-pocketing people below her, she almost felt poor, but a quick reminder of her title was enough to stamp out ill-spirits and thoughts of inferiority. She was the future ruler of the greatest nation in the world, after all. She shouldn't be feeling inferior to anyone.

A rustle in the trees caught her attention, along with the distinct feeling of eyes watching her. She whirled, scanning the trees with a critical eye, but finding no particular irregularities. Maybe the winds were playing tricks on her…

By the time Katara reached the village it was fast becoming dark, the sun preparing to settle over the horizon line and surrender to a nearly full moon. An eerie feeling overcame the young waterbender as she watched the celestial dance; as the sun darkened to red, casting the world in evening shades of pink, purples, oranges and yellows, she thought of the blood on her hands. The Fire Nation blood that had been shed by her herself alone was enough to stain the skyline as red as the fiery orb ahead, and now she had the blood of a Prince‒banished or not, still royal, and according to legend, the first descendants of the sun‒metaphorically seeping through her all too capable fingers. Agni surely despised her… As the moon crept above the dark world she thought of Tui and La, the flip side. She had disgraced the Spirit Oasis and in turn insulted the moon and ocean spirits, she had murdered within the parameters of their peaceful dwelling, despite Yue's attempts to stop her. _Despite the Spirit's attempts to drown her in the serenity of their own home…_ Chances were, the koi were planning their own revenge, just as Agni must be. Her previous good-spirits from the port were "thrown to the moose lions," as her mother once said.

Katara had purposely pushed away all thoughts of her odd death and resurrection, choosing to leave the motives of the Spirits to the Spirits, but for the first time since waking up in Ember Island, she wondered. Why drown her, then deposit her four months later in the nation she despised most? Better yet, what went on for the months she was gone? The reasoning of the Spirits was beyond her mortal comprehension…

She arrived in Chin Village about an hour past sunset, dragging herself to the nearest inn and slamming a few silver pieces on the table.

"Long hike?" asked the young innkeeper, and she realized with a start that he paid no attention to her unusual Water Tribe features, exactly like the friendly people in the port.

"You have no idea…" she responded, setting her heavy leather bag on the counter beside her as he scribbled a few kanji in the log book and assigned her to a room.

"Thanks," she muttered, stopping to consider asking where the nearest bar was. "Is there a tavern anywhere in Chin?"

The innkeeper's green eyes flashed to her with a bewildered look, taking in her petite form and feminine features. "Well yeah… There's the Lucky Hog-Monkey down the road. Follow the main street down about three blocks, then make a right, you'll see it."

She reiterated a "thanks," and hurried to her room to change. Katara didn't plan staying long, so the disrepair of the room wasn't a big deal, but it was sure run-down, they must not get very many travelers…

She switched out her drab traveling clothes for a much nicer tunic and leggings with a cloak and her new pair of leather boots; comfortable, non-suspicious, and easy to fight in. _Perfect._

The tavern was mainly filled with drunk men and hookers looking for an easy job, and it was certainly shady, but that was how she liked it; it was easier to get the information out of alcohol clouded minds and easy pay-offs.

She managed to grab a table in the back unseen; her hood already pulled up to obscure her face, and proceeded to watch the crowd for her victim. Just her luck, one of the more sober men came to her.

"Looking for some information, soldier?" _soldier, that was new. _Her clothing must have done a better job of concealing her gender than she originally thought…

"What will it cost me?" she bartered, purposely keeping her voice low and scratchy, a perfect rendition of a young soldier.

"I need something done, and judging by the way you snuck in here, you're the perfect man for the job."

"Continue,"

The man wasn't Earth Kingdom, she noticed, taking in his pale complexion and dark amber eyes. He was foreign here. "See that man, right _there?_" He gestured to a hulk of a man, sitting hunched over in his seat with a pitcher of ale on his left and a bottle of fire whiskey at his right.

Katara nodded once, encouraging the Fire Nation man to continue. "I've got a little problem with him, he‒"

"I don't care what he's done. What do you want _me _to do?"

"Maybe you could throw him around a little, hm? I have a bone to pick with him, but even I'm no match for that,"

"In return you'll tell me what I need to know?"

"Ask me anything," the man leaned forward, elbows resting on the table. "_If we have a deal,_"

The waterbender didn't bother shaking on it, firing off her first question as confirmation instead. "I'm looking for a fleet of soldiers, Southern Water Tribe to be exact. My informant said they should be nearby,"

The man wasted no time in providing a concise answer. "The Earth Kingdom army already took them out, but, there were a few stragglers that managed to escape. I can draw you a map of the campsite. I promise you it's not a pretty sight; they didn't bother to bury the bodies."

Katara waved over a waitress, or hooker, she wasn't sure, and requested a piece of parchment and ink. She watched as the man sketched landmarks, Chin village, and the location of the Water Tribe encampment. When finished he slid the paper to her, and she tucked it safely inside her cloak, careful not to exposed the clothing underneath.

"Has anyone spotted a Water Tribe man around here?"

"There haven't been any Tribal-looking people in the area for some time, if you're referring to one of the stragglers, then might check the outlying rivers and streams on the map. They may be hiding somewhere,"

"Very well. I'll leave the victim in the alley for you to dispose of, he'll be unconscious for a few hours."

The Fire Nation man watched in excitement as the thin-boned figure approached the drunken giant, stopping just shy of his seat. The cloaked figure raised a single hand, and instantly the whiskey bottle exploded into thousands of tiny shards, the liquid itself spraying in all directions as the huge man cried out in agony. His face was bleeding; hundreds of lacerations running over his brusque features, and several shards imbedded into the soft tissue of his nose and right eyelid.

The man stood then, drawing himself up to his full, immense height and staring down at the unfazed instigator before him. He reached, hand open in a clutching motion intended for the smaller figure's throat. But the ambiguous fighter was agile, using a single foot on an unoccupied chair to propel upwards, tucking the same leg and striking out with the other, landing a flying round kick squarely against the goliath's jaw with an audible pop.

The cloaked figure landed gracefully in the starting position, watching as the bleeding and delirious man stumbled forward, punching clumsily with an unsure fist. The figure sidestepped, catching the punch with nimble fingers and redirecting the energy, bringing the man to his knees and effectively snapping his elbow. The finishing blow was a clean knife hand to the back of the head, then, incredibly, hefted the man halfway onto slim shoulders and drug him outside. No one protested when the fighter came back in to polish off the half-empty pitcher of beer, leaving without a second glance.

What the figure didn't notice was the presence of another cloaked, unidentifiable individual, watching her with a chilling intensity. Watching the familiar movements he knew all too well, identifying Katara by her agility and resourcefulness, and fully intending to right the wrongs between them. _By all means necessary…_

* * *

Katara sighed as she eased into bed, trying to remember the last good night's sleep she had. The last time she slept at all was in upwards of 2 days ago, but a good slumber hadn't been since she was home in the Southern Water Tribe.

Exhausted from the late night scuffle, she allowed sleep to take her, surrendering to the open arms of meaningless dreams. Six hours later she woke ritualistically to the sun, something she had started since her time in the Fire Nation, a habit of sorts she wasn't particularly fond of, but useful nonetheless.

The detailed map proved incredibly valuable, directing her to the campsite within a matter of hours. The foreign man certainly hadn't been joking when he said the sight wouldn't be pretty; the campsite was nothing more than collapsed tents, long dead fires, and decomposing bodies.

The air carried the scent of rotting flesh and spoiled food, roach-flies swarmed over the corpses, clouds of them erupting into the tainted air when their peace was disrupted by a certain nosy waterbender.

She wrinkled her nose, glancing over the bodies of the deceased; they were strewn across the grass, their faces hollowed and the flesh in the process of being stripped from the inside out by maggots. Many still wore expressions of fear, or even revulsion, their unseeing eyes glaring out from their skulls like an enraged lemur-monkey.

She grimaced and scanned for the features of anyone she knew; her jaw setting in anger and revenge as she met the hollow, lifeless eyes of her old sparring partner.

"May Tui and La bless you in the Afterlife…" she whispered, stepping carefully around his mangled body.

She scoured the grounds, checking the bodies once, twice, three times until she was certain her brother was not among the fallen soldiers. She then scanned the woods directly around the camp, double checking to be sure she didn't miss anyone. All in all, Katara counted 16 bodies, only sixteen of the original fleet had survived until this point, eventually all of them dying in one last bloodbath. Katara was sure she would be more emotional, if she were a compassionate person, or someone other than a war monger. But instead of stopping to weep over the dead, she left, following the river it's length in search of her brother.

The path was an easy one; the gentle banks consisting of smooth, unadultured sand, the area was sparsely populated, and footprints would be rare. It was the perfect tracking opportunity.

The river spirit must not have a vendetta against her, Katara decided, when she caught an excellent lead; a pair of tracks only an hour into her search. She followed them further into the woods‒anticipation bubbling over as she studied their size and width, a perfect match for Sokka's feet‒until finally breaking through the low lying brush, and straight into a fresh campsite, complete with naturally placed residents.

"_Katara?"_ came the astonished voice of one particularly dark-skinned occupant.

"Sokka!" she cried, running to him, and for the first time in years threw her arms around her brother in a tight embrace.

"Katara, what's going on? I thought you were dead!" he exclaimed, gingerly returning her affections as if she would crumble into dust.

She clung to him, opening herself up to actually _smile_, relieved that her only remaining blood relative had not perished in the ever-present war. This was a moment between siblings, private and untouchable, not meant for anyone to witness but Sokka. The waterbender would be mortified to learn of another seeing her so defenseless…

Little did she know, she was being followed, and her stalker perched in the branches of a nearby tree, watching with interest as she all but tackled her elder sibling. The questions continued to spew from the Water Tribe warrior's mouth, until she effectively shut him up by asking who the other people were, as they were certainly not part of the fleet, and had gathered quite obviously around them.

"This is Suki…" her brother introduced hesitantly, and the stalker's otherwise expressionless face quirked in a small smile as the Kyoshi warrior stepped forward apprehensively.

"Toph. How's it going." The blind earthbender introduced herself boldly from her position on a large boulder.

"And this is… Well…"

The bald boy stepped forward, scratching the back of his head nervously, _anxiously_. "H-Hi, I'm Aang… It's a pleasure to meet you Master Katara,"

'_Really?'_ Mused the stalker in irritation, still perching above the camp. '_You just referred to your most formidable foe by _master?_ Real intimidating Avatar…'_

"Why do you have airbender tattoos?" the alert girl demanded, stepping away from her brother as if to distance herself in case of attack.

"Katara, he's the Avatar…" Sokka replied for him, his voice quiet, unsure of how she would respond. But the stalker knew how she would respond, and her brother should have as well.

"The _Avatar?_ The Avatar disappeared. That's impossible."

"He's the real deal, Katara."

He calculating expression was intimidating, and the stalker watched in amusement as the other players in this drama visibly shrunk under her gaze. "You're an airbender?"

"That's right," the boy responded confidently, grinning like an idiot at the most dangerous person in the world, probably in history.

"Then you would do best to stay out of my way." she snapped, turning away from him to address her sibling. "Sokka, I need every detail you can give me on the soldiers that attacked you and the Southern fleet. I've gathered some intell from the Fire Nation capitol in my absence and if I can get a message to Altsoba I think I can salvage our standing in the war."

Sokka sighed, staring at the ground and shuffling his feet awkwardly. "I'm not fighting your war anymore Katara, I quit." the last words were barely a whisper, but they spoke volumes.

"You _what?_"

"I'm done fighting a senseless war, Katara."

"You call this war senseless? Sokka it's for the betterment of the world!" her voice was beginning to raise, her body language turning aggressive.

"It's not for the betterment of the world when all you do is hurt people," all eyes turned to the bald monk, and he stared on confidently, making eye contact with the waterbender.

"I'm building an empire, _monk._ A single nation to rise above the rest and unite the world, I will do _whatever_ it takes to achieve that goal, even if it means sacrificing human life."

"So what you're saying is you're into scare tactics, and you're planning world domination." Toph summed up frankly, rooting around in her nasal passages like a badger mole hunting for grubs.

"She's right, you know," Sokka said, his eyes hardening into determination.

"You're here to undermine me…" the waterbender whispered incredulously. The air filled with an uncomfortable silence, stretching through the clearing until the Southern Princess' temper flared. "You fucking traitor Sokka!"

"I never believed in your stupid war, Katara! I only went along with it because you're my sister!"

Her malevolent glare chilled everyone in the clearing, the stalker looked on with a growing sense of urgency, she would snap at any second.

"I pray to the spirits I never see your face again." She spat, her eyes leaving her brother, skirting around the campsite before returning to their original destination with renewed fury.

"You've forgotten mom's words, Katara."

The waterbender didn't speak, she didn't move, she didn't even flinch, but the expression on her face explained everything; Katara, the fearless, iron willed, merciless Princess of the Southern Water Tribe was _hurt._ The pain slapped across her face was as real as the ground she was standing on.

A second passed, then two, three, eventually an entire minute, the furious atmosphere mutating into one of tense anticipation; the calm before the storm. They watched, and waited, ready for the attack, and Katara did not disappoint.

An entire tree exploded, splintering into nothing but mulch and she called the water to her in a controlled way, her wrath fueling the coldness of her power. The stalker sprang into action; leaping from the tree and landing with unrivaled stealth, not a single leaf protested his return to earth.

The waterbender swirled the water carefully in her hands, the stalker unsheathed his swords. She raised her hands in a fighting stance, he crept closer. She slid into position, readying the attack, aiming, bringing her arms forward‒

He cut her off, two dao swords slipping into place at her throat, cold and dangerously sharp. Her stalker smirked, coming into position directly behind her, his knee propped against her lower back for leverage and control. His chest pressed against her upper back, he could feel her breaths, the mild warmth radiating from her skin, the soft brush of her hair where it ended at his solar plexus. He was taller, and he liked that, he felt masculine, holding a ticking time bomb such as herself, in a death grip. He knew, and she knew, at any second he could draw the blades back, slicing through her tender skin like butter and decapitating her with ease.

"Zuko!" Sokka screeched at his fellow camp-mate. "What the _hell _are you doing?"

"She's a threat," he answered simply, gripping the swords more tightly, the leather sticking to his black gloves.

"She's my sister!"

"Don't go there Snoozles," Toph butted in. "She's lethal and you know it. Do you really think she'll hesitate to kill any of us?"

"Drop the swords, Zuko."

Nothing.

"Now." he growled out poisonously, protective brother overcoming helpless, unarmed victim.

Zuko assented, removing his blades from the waterbender's throat and stepping away reluctantly, slowly. She whirled on him instantly, hair whipping around her face, blue orbs harsh and loathsome, before widening in shock. Katara, stunned beyond words at the sight before her.

_Agni before me, spare my life…_ She thought, catching golden eyes alight with an inner fire that seared her soul and quaked the carefully placed walls of her emotions. He was terrifying, Agni incarnate, the undoing of her fragile control. He was her enemy, and her greatest fear, he was the vengeful Spirit that haunted her midnight dreams and lurked in the corners of her waking mind. The ebony hair, jagged edges teasing his strong jaw and cheekbones. The eyes, like two burning suns set in his handsome, aristocratic face. The skin, so shockingly ivory in the midday light, inhuman in the smoothness and marred only by the port wine colored scar, reminding her of the destructive nature of his element.

She stumbled backwards, resisting the urge to call him by the Sun Spirit's name, _or was he a god?_ She cataloged the changes in her enemy; learning this new version of him and studying the differences. He _was_ _different_, lacking the temperamental arrogance of a spoiled Prince, only to be replaced with the humbleness of a poor man and the strength of a soldier. He was taller, _or was it the way he carried himself?_ Katara had always subconsciously known he was easy on the eyes (of course not hers, because he was the enemy, and thus an eyesore. But handsome nonetheless.) but he was even more so now; mature and sharp featured, still exotic. The Fire Prince watched her with the same determined expression, the same underlying hate, but he was controlled, unyieldingly measured in emotion. Her fear subsided, and anger took it's place.

"I thought you were dead." Her glare was just as black as her heart.

"Sorry to disappoint," he deadpanned, refusing to resheath his swords, _not until the bitch was gone_, he vowed.

"Maybe I should redeem your honor," she snarled, lunging for him with everything in her.

The Fire Prince ducked, rolling expertly away from the waterbender, his shoulder taking the brunt of the dive, leaving his arms and feet free to attack. He spun, throwing arcs of fire in her direction, snarling as the flames grazed her clothing, igniting with a whoosh.

She extinguished it hastily, her attention momentarily directed away from her opponent. That was all the opportunity he needed; he leapt forward, the chink of his blades leaving a deafening silence in the aftermath. Sokka inhaled loudly, Toph made a disapproving sound, Suki was silent.

"You fucking bastard." Katara removed her hand from the laceration on her arm; warm, sticky liquid coating her fingers and staining the dark earth crimson. The wound was deep, and placed less than an inch higher, would have been fatal.

Despite her profusely bleeding arm, Katara was unfazed, a plan formulating in her woozy mind. Desperate times require desperate measures…

She stepped out into an unfamiliar stance, a spidery movement, one of great power and control. Instantly the five individuals around her face planted into the ground, she frowned; usually she was more delicate than that… Probably because it was midday and not the full moon… She discarded her troubling thoughts, humming to herself as she leisurely cut off the blood supply to their brains, mimicking a blood choke, before releasing them easily.

Katara strode to the lone firebender, stripping off one of her new hand wraps and binding his hands together. She lowered herself, struggling only slightly before lifting the muscular Prince over her shoulders. She grunted, reminding herself of the giant from the night previous, compared to that enormous man, the Prince was small. Though, it did not go unnoticed by Katara, the height and breadth of him, the musculature, the strong but graceful bone structure, the searing heat of his skin, he was a fine specimen indeed. The banished Fire Nation Prince was the perfect war prisoner, and with a little convincing, Altsoba would more than likely relent, and he would be Katara's personal slave.

She stood a little straighter, smiled a little wider, and ignored the four unconscious bodies already well behind her. She disregarded her brother, the traitor whose heart had hardened against his people.

'_I am the heir,'_ she reminded herself, musing, ecstatic, as four hours later she plopped her heavy load onto the floor of a high-jacked boat. Tying his binds a little tighter, shifting him around a littler rougher, and pushing away her fear a little more forcefully.

_Destination: Southern Water Tribe. Estimated Arrival: 3 days. Purpose of Mission: Deliver Fire Prince Zuko to Chief Altsoba, await further orders._


	5. Chapter 5 - In the Dark

**Author's notes:**

Wow, so I didn't realize how much hate there was for bloodbending! That being said, I used the bloodbending at the end, not as a "I don't know what to do, let's make her bloodbend" but to demonstrate the instability of Katara's mind. The Katara I've been trying to write is one who is ruthless, always looking for a new challenge, and not afraid to get her hands dirty. The concept of glory (as Azula already mentioned) is the ability to take what you are capable of taking (a life, a country, the world, etc.) and while bloodbending is an ability that is rare and requires a special skill, it does not coincide with the challenge and victory of an evenly matched fight, thus I don't think the Katara I'm portraying would ever use it for anything but more vindictive reasons. (torture, scare tactic, etc.) When writing this, I had Uncle Iroh in mind, specifically when he says:

"You must never give in to despair. Allow yourself to slip down that road and you surrender to your lowest instincts. In the darkest of times, hope is something you give yourself. _That_ is the meaning of inner strength."

Katara is becoming unstable, foreshadowed by her fear of the moon and sun (the Spirits "out to get her.") and her interaction with Zuko. (Even though she knew it was him, he still reminded her of Agni, and messed with her mind a little) Did you guys catch her humming to herself at the end of the last chapter? What kind of self-respecting General, Princess, or war monger hums to themselves? Katara has given in to despair, she is slipping down the road and surrendering to her lowest instincts, she is resorting to tactics that do not bring glory, or even honor, but rather is becoming desperate and insane. (Like Azula at the season 3 finale; she abandoned honor in favor of fighting dirty, and she went crazy.)

Allrighty, that explained, this chapter will have more personal Zutara, I apologize for the wait guys… A different spin on the cliché "slave Zutara."

_**I finally have a fanart finished for this pic! I'll have the link up soon.**_

**Review Responses: **

**Inwen – thank you so much! I appreciate your review and of course, the fact that you're reading my story. ;D Hope you like this chapter!**

**Guest reviewer who mentioned the Airbenders being wiped out – the Airbenders were wiped out by the Fire Nation, I mentioned in chapter one the relations every element had to each other (which I partially took from the astrological zodiac.) water and fire balance, earth and air balance, earth restricts water, air agitates fire, and so on. Zuko and Katara will definitely be staying hostile for quite some time, and everything is going to get a bit creepier as the story progresses! Thank you so much for reading, and for your review, I appreciate it! :)**

**Random Reader – I hope I answered your question in the A/N above, I appreciate you pointing this out, as it does seem kind of copout(now that I've reread it), but I certainly didn't mean it to be that way! Thank you so much!**

**Chapter 5 – In the Dark**

The lump of black cloth shifted, fabric falling back to reveal fine silk traveling robes. Katara's captive groaned; he was curled in the fetal position, having squirmed during his prolonged slumber, finally waking as the sun settled over the horizon. He lay in the crude bottom of a small fishing vessel, rubbing at his wrists as he came into consciousness.

Katara smirked, standing at the hull of her "borrowed" ship, bending them speedily southward, towards her home. "Have a nice slumber?" she commented, watching Agni give way to the moon.

The Fire Prince's head snapped up in her direction, as if just recognizing her presence. Immediately he snarled, his eyes blackening, and were he not bound and weakened from her little stunt, he would have attacked. Despite his flaring nostrils and stressed patience, he did not speak.

"What, are you deaf and dumb now?"

No response.

She tried again, with something a little more personal. "Your funeral has already taken place. Though Azula wasn't too happy about you being the center of attention."

Her captive froze, staring up at her through long black lashes, reflecting the blackness of his mood. "There was a funeral?"

"Is that surprising, Prince?" she glanced back at him, growing anxious with the intensity of his gaze. "I know you're banished and all, but shouldn't you expect as much from your family?"

"I don't expect anything from my father," the ivory skinned man spat, and she could have sworn there were sparks on his tongue. He glanced away, eyes averting over the vessel's edge to stare at the vast ocean. Whether he was wondering about her meeting with his sister or not, he didn't say; he was entirely silent, brooding in what Katara smugly imagined was his own personal hell. She wouldn't have it any other way.

The temperature change would not come today, no, the waterbender would see the ice bergs of her home Nation tomorrow. But still, she was excited, ready to see her homeland, ready to feel the icy sting of a blizzard against her cheeks. Truth be told, she was weary, she was ready to dump her prisoner off in the servant's quarters, turn tail, and sleep an entire day in the comfort of her furs and ice fortress. Then, she would awake to the lowly Prince serving her tea, warmed by his own hands. She glanced back at the Prince, watching his golden eyes scan the horizon line contemptuously, his muscular arms resting against his knees, wrists still bound. '_Maybe he will warm more than tea…'_

The Prince did not speak until the next morning; though it was almost unworthy of being called speech when he mumbled curses against the frigid air.

"Not so fond of the cold, _hm?_" his captor looked rather self-satisfied, trailing her bare fingers through the sea water. She proceeded to flick the loose droplets on the Prince, eliciting a vicious snarl. She scoffed in return, rolling her eyes at his temper. "Eat," she commanded, tossing a small sack his way.

He openly refused, staring at the bundle with sharp eyes and a few pointed glares in the waterbender's direction. He silently cursed Sokka; if he had slit her throat, they wouldn't have this problem, he wouldn't be the prisoner of a crazy woman and the Gaang wouldn't be without a firebending teacher. _Sokka… _Zuko promised himself the small pleasure of slapping some sense into the delusional Tribesman, as soon as he either killed the waterbender, or escaped.

"Last time I checked, you were trying to murder my brother, not help him. Might I ask why the change of heart?" Katara was bending again, sweeping her arms in wide arcs, propelling the boat forward at a terrifying speed.

"Exactly that, a change of heart," his voice was raspy and deep, and Katara inwardly shivered at the tone of it; shoving thoughts of the sun child from her mind, focusing on the task at hand.

Agni raced across the sky that day, giving way to the moon more quickly than expected, and soon the glaciers that dotted the ocean were beside them, radiating chilling cold like a fire radiated heat. Katara anchored them to one huge body of ice before plopping down on her side of the boat, staring openly at the firebender on the opposite side, his amber eyes flashing brutally to hers.

He exhaled fire, the light reflecting, turning his orbs orange before they faded back to gold. He was breathing towards his hands, reveling in the warmth on his frozen fingers, wishing his icy toes could experience the same luxury.

"You're going to catch your binds on fire," she said, rummaging around for what was left of her provisions.

He exhaled again, in her direction, adding a little more power behind the flames. She froze, her thin fingers stilling on the burlap sack at her side, her eyes trained carefully away from him.

"You wouldn't dare,"

His answer was there, in his eyes, the fiery hatred resembling more of a dragon than a man, and his rigid posture revealing he wouldn't hesitate to breathe his fire until her skin peeled and her hair singed away, until there was nothing left of her but crackling bones and ash.

"And what would you do, firebender? Would you safely guide the boat to enemy territory and pray they don't know you're Fire Nation? Would you turn back to the Earth Kingdom, and perish before the week was up, with no food and no water and that lovely pale skin turning as red as the scar on your face?" She watched his reaction, his body language, and her answering smile was the arrogant type of knowing, the kind he so often found on his sister's face. "You would die without me here. Your life is in my hands."

"Agni save us all…" he muttered, glaring at the moon as she settled for the night, though it was pointless; neither had slept since the ocean surrounded them.

"I request an audience with Chief Altsoba," the guard blinked, still deciding whether this was the haunting of a vengeful Princess, or reality. "What are you standing there for? _Move!"_ She screeched, backhanding the guard before he scrambled into action, smoothing his wolf's tail before stepping through the throne doors submissively. He left the door open a crack, and the waterbender peered in, one hand tightly grasping the Prince's binds.

The mismatched pair had landed on Southern land‒or ice‒earlier that morning, walking the immense distance to the palace grounds, their feet sore and blistered and their tempers flaring. The Prince had been none too pleasant, and Katara was quickly becoming flustered at his unusual ways of irritation. Who knew a single breath of fire could sink them waist deep in freezing water, in the middle of _nowhere?_

"The Princess is no more. She cannot request an audience with me if she is _dead,_" the waterbender shivered; she would know that cold voice anywhere, she would know his voice drunk, blindfolded, and tortured. Before the Spirits, he was the first person to incite a bone chilling fear within her, and the effect had certainly not waned with time.

"Your Highness, I am not playing a joke on you. I would know the Princess anywhere; she is standing behind those doors as we speak,"

Altsoba raised his voice, cutting off the guard with sharp words, but Katara was quicker; she burst through the doors, striding in with her usual prowess before pushing the Fire Prince ahead of her. She snapped her leg out, aiming for his bound hands before pushing him down with the sheer strength of her quad muscles. His knees snapped against the ice floor, and she pressed his forehead against the floor with her foot, before dropping beside him, bowing low‒but not _as_ low‒before the Chief.

"Katara?"

She raised her face from the floor, revealing her face clearly to the Chief. "Forgive me, my Chief. I meant no disrespect in entering without your permission,"

"Did you mean disrespect when you deceived us, when you feigned your death, then disappeared for months?" He was angry, she could hear it underneath the composure of his voice, he was _very _angry…

"Father…"

"Do _not _call me that!" the Princess flinched in response, lowering her head again in submission. "Explain yourself Master Katara." _Master Katara?_

"I woke up in the Fire Nation four months after my supposed death, I remember nothing." Zuko shifted beside her; sliding his face across the ice to watch her carefully. _He didn't know…_

"Do you remember murdering the Fire Nation Prince?"

She hesitated, how was she to tell him who was beside her, if she admitted? "Yes, My Chief."

"Your Highness," he corrected bitterly, rising from his furs to strut down to their level. "And what did you think would happen, Katara? Did you think they would brush off the offense like nothing happened? Did you think they would assume a life for a life? A Prince for a Princess? Heir for an heir?"

"Perhaps the‒"

"There is unrest in the Fire Nation, forces are being gathered, the Earth Kingdom is joining with them. We are in danger, Master Katara. All because _you couldn't control yourself!"_

The Fire Prince saw her flinch, felt the quaking of her body beside him. She was _terrified…_

"I'm sor‒"

"You disappear, we assume your death, then you show your face months later with what? _Nothing! _Your brother is not beside you, you have no information, nothing but a _single prisoner?_" His gaze snapped to the firebender then, to the fair skinned, yellow eyed man with the scar. "Who is he?"

She quaked harder, her eyes wide and lowered to the ground, _would he kill her?_ Would he murder her, make her one amongst the hundreds of others? "H-He is the Fire Prince, Your Highness…"

"_Who?_" his voice raised octaves, his hands finding purchase on the Prince's hair, yanking his face up roughly.

"The Fire Prince… Prince Zu‒"

"_I know his name!_" He dropped the firebender, Zuko's forehead smacking against the ice with a wet slap. Figured, his skin would melt the floor. Altsoba took a deep breath, composing himself before speaking again. "Tell me, where did you find him?"

"With the Avatar…"

"And _why_, Katara, did you not bring me the _avatar?"_ He was playing with her, his voice mocking, and she realized how ridiculous all of this must have sounded. Feigned death, murdered Prince, the _Avatar?_ Which begged the question, why not the Avatar? He was the real threat, the balancing force, he was the target in a situation such as hers. She could have taken her pick, she could have killed the Prince in his unconsciousness and taken the Avatar to her father. But instead, she left them, taking the Fire Prince‒alive and well‒to Altsoba. Again, she was plagued by him, by the Agni incarnate with the temper and the fire in his eyes, the boy who melted the ice beneath her feet and gave her a hypothermia level migraine for hours_. And she hated him_. She wanted to reach over and rip out his throat, watch with satisfaction as he drowned in his own boiling blood. But she had bigger problems right now, the Chief was pacing angrily before them, and her fear drowned all thoughts of gruesome murders.

"Get out! Get out of my sight! Take your disgusting pet with you!" He glanced to the guards. "You have five minutes to get out of the city before the guards attack. Clock starts now."

Katara leapt to her feet, not bothering to mull over his words any more than she had to. She sliced Zuko's binds open with an ice blade; every man for himself when there was an entire city willing to kill you.

"Run!" she screamed, dragging the Prince with her as they stumbled out the doors. "It takes fifteen minutes minimum to get out of the city. If we can sustain ten minutes of fighting we have a chance, but that doesn't mean they won't follow us out." She was in shock, moving mechanically and blocking out anything related to emotion. She gripped the Prince's hand, pulling him through the halls and staircases, rushing through the palace like a wanted traitor, which she was.

They burst into the busy streets; and the waterbender only hesitated for a second before rushing to the left, her boots slipping precariously on the polished ice sidewalk. She ran full out; still pulling the Prince behind her, his searing hot hand folded into hers. Her legs burned and her lungs gasped at the icy air, chilling her and setting her aflame from exertion, she was sure her captive-turned-cohort was feeling similarly exhausted, but she didn't stop.

The gates of the city were in view when the first attack began; the waterbending guards coming full force from every direction, intent on removing either traitor's head. The Fire Prince and Southern Princess backed against each other, circling and attacking, always back to back.

"When I say duck, you _duck,_" he whispered, and she nodded almost imperceptibly.

A moment passed, she felt the heat from his attacks wash over her, and never once did his fire touch her. "Duck." She plunged to the ground, the air above her a whirlwind of flames erupting from the Prince's mouth. Their opponents scrambled backwards, many becoming caught in the attack and falling‒their faces scorched away‒to the ground. There was an opening, and they ran for it, reaching the high ice wall before the second wave began.

"Bend us through!"

"The wall is over thirty feet thick, we don't have time."

"Then what do we do?"

"Can you swim?"

He turned his eyes on her, his expression both puzzled and irritated. Had she really just asked him a stupid question like that, in the middle of a miniature siege? "Yes."  
She gripped his hand, her other bending away the ice sidewalk at their feet and dropping them into glacial water. She held her breath, her lungs already burning from their fight, and used her bending to propel herself and the Prince through the water, measuring the distance by the light coming from their escape portal.

Thirty feet was a lot longer than she remembered‒having done this as a training exercise when she was a child‒so when she finally broke the surface of the ice on the other side, it was no wonder both benders were gasping for air. There was little time for a pause, as an ice dagger embedded into the snow, inches from their opening.

The benders jumped from the water, Katara bending away the water from their clothes, and Zuko covering them with blocks and attacks. Then they ran, and they ran, and they ran. Till her legs gave out and his breath of fire turned to rancid ashy sparks at the back of his throat, but still they pressed on, she refused to stop, and when they couldn't run they walked. Neither glanced back to the palace, and they certainly didn't look at each other, they had a system; right foot, left foot, right foot, left foot. Hours later they slipped past an unsuspecting fishermen heading home, and eventually settled into the stolen boat they were all too familiar with.

"Where to?" He asked, uncharacteristically calm.

"Anywhere but here…" she whispered in turn, her blue eyes glazed over and unseeing.

The Fire Prince untied them from the dock, shoving them off and raising the small sail to catch the Southern wind, pushing them North. Pushing them anywhere but here…

And with that they settled, for once not caring if they were enemies, and laying underneath the moon, preparing for sleep. There was space between them, and for the first time since childhood, Katara decided she hated the space forced between her and other human beings. Still, she did not move, she closed her tired eyes, listened to the Prince, heard him breathe, heard him sigh, heard him shift to look up at the stars. She wondered what he saw, when he looked at the moon? Did he see an empty, pock-marked deity with no soul? Or did he see the fullness, the shining beauty? Personally, she saw her own demise, she saw the angry Spirit staring down at her, it's beady eyes searing her deeply… Searing her like this Prince had…

BREAK

The morning was an unwelcome reminder of reality to Zuko, but he rose with it, as always. To Katara, it was the unwelcome reminder of a habit she hated, her time in the Fire Nation and the corresponding traditions of the people. But it was more than that; because as she eased from her dreams, she locked eyes with the subject of her dream, the _mortal_ version. She screamed; recoiling from the figure on the opposite side of the boat, taking in his stoic expression and casual position.

"Agni!" she announced, scrambling against the edge of her sleeping space.

"What's wrong with you?" the Spirit asked, and realism flooded back to the terrified waterbender.

Suddenly, she felt quite stupid. She paused, watching the firebender apprehensively; he was unbound, sitting leisurely, busy rummaging through her bag. _He wasn't trying to kill her…_ Again, she felt stupid; of course he wouldn't kill her! They were still stuck in the middle of an ocean with no food and no clean water, not to mention he was probably developing skin cancer as they spoke.

She glanced at the sail, she hadn't set the sail… "Why are we headed North?"

He paused, watching her for a minute before proceeded to dig an empty tin can from her bag. "Would you rather we go South?"

At once the memories flooded back to her; the throne room, Altsoba's words, the escape, the _running_. She was banished, a banished Princess… She had lost her throne, her glory was gone, her country was no longer hers… Anguish flooded her; her people were no longer hers either, her father's country, her _mother's_ country, she had failed them… Failed them all…

"I'm banished… I'm an outcast… A traitor…" she whispered as the firebender regarded her curiously.

"That's great and all… But can you purify some water?"

Her hazed blue eyes locked with his, and she felt an unfamiliar emotion hang heavily on her heart, a sadness that crushed like a vice. "I'm like you…"

Zuko stiffened at her words, remembering his own experiences, his own past, she was _nothing _like him_… And everything like his sister…_

She huddled herself in her corner of the boat, pulling her knees to her chest and rocking slightly, blocking all offending thoughts from her befuddled mind. "This isn't happening… I'm not a traitor… _I'm not a traitor!"_ She screamed, causing the man before her to jump at her sudden outburst.

He cleared his throat uncomfortably, raising a finger to make a point, but his words falling short. "Well‒"

_Splash!_

He watched her thin form disappear beneath the water, wondering exactly when, or if she planned on coming back. Or maybe she was drowning herself? She might never come back… Which meant he was stuck here… He sighed, crossing his arms over his chest and sitting back in the boat. '_Bitch better come back…'_

Less than a two minutes later she emerged, dragging her water logged body into the boat, and throwing a few flopping fish in with her.

"Ungh…" her companion‒or was he still "prisoner?"‒wrinkled his aristocratic nose at her catch. "You went… _Fishing?_"

She answered by grasping the tail of one wriggling creature, and snapping it's neck between her thin fingers, the audible crunch provoking a grimace from the Prince.

While Katara preferred her seafood raw, Zuko couldn't help but cook his, which proved an interesting show as he attempted multiple ways of scorching the thing to death. First it was campfire style, flame cupped in hand and fish held precariously over the flame, until the hot oils from the flesh dripped onto his exposed fingers and wrist. Then, it was flame thrower style, one end of the fish held while the other was scorched beyond recognition, and the process repeated with the other side. This worked well enough, until the Prince discovered scorched fish skin was extremely hard to pick off of over-cooked flesh. And last, but certainly not least, was hothands style; he would hold the fish (and notably his last fish) in his hands and increased the temperature until it slowly roasted, which was great, until the cooked skin clung to his fingers like it had been glued there. All this Katara watched with mild amusement, eating her own meal painlessly and enjoyably, before purifying a little water for the both of them, Mr. Hothands still playing with his food.

"We're going back to the Earth Kingdom," he announced after their meal, and she didn't even glance his way.

She wondered why he was calling the shots, but didn't bother to voice anything. She had slipped into a numbness, a denial of reality far beyond the living world. She was unreachable, and quite honestly uncaring to where she went next. She would regain whatever was lost to her, if it even was lost. Maybe this was all one terrible dream? Maybe Agni and the Fire Prince had melded in her mind, maybe her greatest nightmares were just haunting her in her waking hours? Either way, she would exist, survive, whatever the voices in her head wanted her to do. They told her to eat, she ate. They told her to watch the Prince, she would watch him, watch his too-gold eyes. They told her to bend, she would push them faster to their undefined destination. They told her to kill him, well, would these voices tell her to kill him? They were different than the ones she always heard, the whisperings of glory, of calculations and special tips. These were the ones who told her what she needed, not what she wanted.

"What was that?" Zuko spoke into their second night, staring at her cursed moon. He might as well have been her voices, the Spirits whispering into the cool night, and she treated him as such.

"You told me to kill him…" she responded, in a voice too far away, too gentle to be her own. The Prince turned his head; she was staring at the moon, like him, watching the Spirit in her nightly travels. "You told me to kill him and I did… But he's here… And now you tell me to survive…"

Chills covered the man's arms as he regarded the waterbender; she was awake, but she was dazed. The way she spoke, the way she whispered, it wasn't to him, it wasn't even to the moon. Her words were the kind that weren't meant for human ears, certainly not for him; the subject of her musings. She was speaking to people who weren't there, to voices she wasn't really hearing, she was _insane_.

"Why don't you kill him?" he whispered in return, hoping not to startle her, but to draw forth a response.

"Do you want me to?" she was a little more alert, almost surprised.

"No…" he whispered again, the chills moving to shake his body. She was talking to voices, she was a dangerous, vindictive girl in denial, speaking to things she shouldn't be. Speaking about murdering him…

"Then I won't…" _was that a smile?_ He had never seen her smile, at least not genuinely, but the action was almost… _beautiful._ '_It was too lovely for the memories behind her eyes,_' he decided, so he turned his attention back to the moon, her _master._ "Sleep now, _Katara…_" Her name was pleasant against his lips, but he knew, come morning, they would still be enemies.

BREAK

The solid ground under his feet was reassuring, but certainly not comfortable. They had been walking for days, subsisting off what he could steal for them, and sleeping uncovered in the woods. They were in the lowest recesses of the Southern Earth Kingdom, traveling to anywhere.

The banished Princess followed willingly, still speaking to the voices in her head, ignoring Zuko's voice as if it were no more than white noise.

But five days into their walking, she snapped, like a dam holding back a flood. And she was angry, _extremely_ angry.

Zuko was striding along, quietly taking in their surroundings, shouldering their meager supplies and nursing the cluster of blisters on his left toes, when it happened; out of nowhere a torrent of earth tinged water snapped his head forward, pitching him into the leaf-covered ground.

He whirled, a foot promptly cutting off his words, _her foot. _"I lost my throne because of you…" she was glaring at him, her dazed expression long forgotten and a menacing countenance replacing it. "I should have made sure you were dead… I should have _died killing you!_" she was snarling, saliva flying from her mouth like a rabid animal.

The firebender struggled against her foot, his superheated hands finding her ankle, gripping her until she jerked away in pain. He scrambled upright, hands half-raised in a fighting stance, ready for her move. But she didn't intend on fighting, she was the emotional kind of angry, the _screaming _kind of angry.

"I lost my throne because of _you!_" she screamed again. "I would have been great, I would have been magnificent, I would have owned the world. And _you took it from me!_ You were nothing, an interesting fight, a game, a plaything, and you ended me! I am _banished! Banishe‒"_

"Banished? You mean like me?" he yelled back, his blood boiling and fists clenching. "I lost my throne too! I lost it because I had a father that only cared about war! About winning and taking over! You really think _your _father would have given up his throne so easily? You wouldn't have ruled until sea monsters sucked the flesh from his bones!"

She was taken aback; she had never heard the stoic Prince speak so much. Sure, he was a whirlwind of emotion in battle, and a temperamental bitch of a man when provoked, but never had he formed so many words against her. "He's not my father…" she whispered, she searched his face in her shock, and found he was just as stunned. "He's my step father… My mother left me a long time ago…"

He scoffed, wiping the dust off his face with the back of his hand. "You're not the only one with family issues…"

A silent moment passed between them, her hurt, her anguish, her pain, was no longer bound behind the walls of her mind. She allowed her emotions to run freely, for the anger and hate to consume her and shadow the numbness. She allowed herself to _feel_, and it was terrifying; years and years of feeling nothing, of being a _monster_, of regretting nothing, and now she felt _everything. _It consumed her; she felt her mother, the pain of her loss, the fear of life after her, the confusion of forcing away all resemblance of humanity. She saw them, the people she had killed; the crazed eyes and the terrified gazes, she heard their screams echo in her ears and she wondered if everyone felt remorse like this? Was this the floodgate of her soul? Open now, before the one person she despised the most?

She crumpled to her knees, she was angry that her walls had fallen, angry that she couldn't hold on to what she valued the most. She had turned her back on her brother for her throne, and her throne had been ripped from her. She was left with nothing, she was refused acceptance from everyone. Even the enemy she travelled with would never accept her… She was left with nothing, and nothing to do about it.

_'Of course, I could always kill the man I fear most...' _she thought, before the faces flashed through her mind again, and she thought better of it.

Then, just like a blanket being thrown over her head, she slipped into her inconsolable haze, anger forgotten and thoughts venturing back to the voices in her head. '_Survive! Survive!' _they screamed at her, leading her through the basic actions of life.

She remembered, at one point, asking them '_what for?_' and they responded, the words whispering to her as warm hands passed off a makeshift pillow. '_Because you're worth it...'_

"_To feel too much is dangerous. To feel too little is tragic."_ – David Kessler


End file.
